First Snow (Montreal) • PhotoTraces

It is rare when the first snow of winter stays around for a long time. Typically, it melts right away or by the following morning.

But, this year was different. We got 25cm of snow and the temperature quickly dropped below -10C. It looks like the first snow of winter is here to stay.

It was perfect timing for me to test my new travel photography setup. I have a new Fujifilm XT-2, which is weather sealed with a dual memory card slot and a weather-sealed 18-135mm Fujinon lens.

For a long time, I wanted a more robust camera and lens combo for my travels so, I am excited to see if this combination will live up to my expectations.

Shooting

The Fujinon 18-135 mm is not a very wide lens, which makes it challenging to compose wide open landscapes. I find myself shooting a lot of panoramas of four, six or even eight shots and later combining them into a single composition in Lightroom.

But, for this shot, it was not complicated at all and the 18mm was wide enough to include all the elements of the scene into a single capture.

I used exposure compensation to boos the exposure by 1.5 stops to compensate for very bright snow.

Editing & Processing

It was a single RAW processing workflow.

Lightroom (85%)

First, I used the Crop Overlay tool to improve the composition, making it a bit tighter.

Next, I used the Autumn preset from my Winter Colors Collection as the base for Lightroom Rapid Editing. Then I used TOOLKIT to open up the shadows in the foreground and boost the Contrast.

The Lightroom Preset Editing Formula: Crisp Morning (9, 17, 22, 31)

Photoshop (15%)

First, I used the Spot Healing Brush to clean up the graffiti on the asphalt and then I boost the details and reduced noise.

Plugins: DeNoise (noise reduction), Topaz Detail (local contrast boost).

Total Time: 12min

Before & After Transformation