A shallow Depth-of-Field can help draw more attention to a subject and diminish things in the background. For this photo, I used my Nikon D5 and Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art lens with the camera set at ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, and 1/100.

You must adjust the exposure when shooting on snow or at the beach. I find that adding +1 stop using the exposure compensation dial gives the best results. Depending on how your meter interprets the scene, you may need more or less.

This is tricky lighting, but I could tweak the image before I shot it. I saw the results I would be getting, and in theater, the lighting changes so much that this is a blessing to shoot with the mirrorless Fuji X-E2. The electronic viewfinder lets you see what the CMOS chip is seeing and capturing.