Why do snow photos look grey instead of white?

A camera's light meter aims for a scene that averages to a middle tone. Snow is far brighter than average, so the meter cuts the exposure until the snow measures as a middle tone, which is grey. Raise exposure compensation to about +1 to correct it.

What EV should I use for snow?

Start at +1. If snow fills the frame under flat light, +1.7 often looks right. Check the preview or histogram rather than fixing a single number.

Why are my night photos washed out?

The same rule in reverse. A dark scene is far darker than average, so the meter raises the exposure until it measures as a middle tone. Lower exposure compensation to about −1 so the dark parts stay dark.

Why do my snow photos look grey?

You stand in fresh snow, take the photo, and the snow is grey. Your eyes see white. The camera does not. Here is why — and the fix takes one second.

Your light meter does not know what white is

A camera's light meter cannot see colour or subject. It measures how much light is coming in and aims for one thing: a scene that averages out to a middle tone — roughly halfway between black and white.

That assumption is right most of the time. A street, a room, a face in daylight: all of them average out near the middle. So the meter quietly does its job and you never notice it.

Snow breaks the assumption. A field of snow is overwhelmingly bright. The meter sees far more light than a normal scene and concludes the shot will be too bright — so it cuts the exposure until the snow measures as a middle tone. A middle tone is grey. You asked for white and the meter gave you exactly what it was built to give.

The meter is not broken. It is doing the one thing it knows how to do, on a scene that breaks its only assumption.

The fix: exposure compensation

Every camera worth using has a control that says take the meter's answer and push it brighter or darker. It is usually marked EV or +/−, and it moves in steps called stops.

For snow, push it to +1. If the snow fills the whole frame and the light is flat, try +1.7. You are telling the camera: I know you want a middle tone here, but this scene really is brighter than average.

Fresh snow, a white wall, a beach at noon, a bride's dress → +1 to +2
A normal street, a portrait in shade, a room → 0
A concert, a night street, a black cat, a dark stage → −1 to −2

The same rule, backwards, at night

Now flip it. A night street is mostly black. The meter sees very little light, concludes the shot will be too dark, and pushes the exposure up until the darkness measures as a middle tone. You get a milky, washed-out photo where the night has no night left in it.

Pull exposure compensation to −1 and the blacks go black again. Same rule, opposite direction.

Bright scene → +EV. Dark scene → −EV. It feels backwards until you have done it twice.

How to know before you press the shutter

You do not have to guess and check. Two tools tell you in advance:

Live exposure preview — the screen shows the actual brightness the photo will have. Move the EV slider and watch the snow go from grey to white.
Histogram — a graph of how much of the picture is dark (left) and bright (right). For snow, the mass should sit toward the right without piling up against the right wall. Piled against the wall means the highlights are gone for good.

Both of these live in Lensmera's camera screen, and the app explains what it is doing while you shoot, so the rule sticks.

What about phones that fix it automatically?

Many modern phones detect a snow scene and correct for it. When it works, it works. But automatic scene detection is a guess, and it fails in exactly the cases that matter most to you: a person in snow, a snowy scene through a window, snow at dusk. Knowing the rule means you are never at the mercy of the guess.

It also transfers. Exposure compensation works the same way on every camera you will ever pick up — a mirrorless body, a DSLR, a film SLR from 1978.