Debbie, the most important factor in shooting any scene is the light. Low light looks nicer. In Alaska in the winter the sun never gets much above the horizon, so low light prevails. To expose for this scene I probably bracketed +1/3 and +2/3 (this was Velvia, which I shoot at ASA 40). In this scene, there are enough dark areas for the camera's meter to correctly select the proper exposure. Since the meter is made to measure an average color density of 18% gray, if you meter on a scene that is entirely white, you would need to over expose by as much as 1.5 stops. I'll post a photo of an arctic fox in the snow; it was exposed +1.5 stops over the meter's reading on that scene. (http://www.usefilm.com/showphoto.php?id=6102) Keep in mind that you can also meter on an 18% gray card or something else that you determine is about that density, and then shoot the white scene at that exposure with confidence that your exposure will be OK.
Awww Steve you are the master of snow as John is the master of sunsets. You get the whites and sunlit places so beautifully. I've been reading about stopping up I think it is 1 stop after metering to make snow so white? And then to get texture of the shaded areas? Well anyway I've been reading about it. This is beautiful.
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