SIMPLE SOLUTION Shooting winter sports outdoors is like taking pictures at the beach. You’re dealing with a lot of sun, as well as light bouncing off the snow. Use the beach setting on your camera for these shots, or the snow mode, if your camera has one.

SERIOUS SOLUTION To make snow look whiter, and avoid a gray tinge, overexpose by raising the EV (exposure values) setting by a half-step or one step. The high shutter speed you’re using to freeze the action will compensate for the extra light. You also need to increase the shutter speed if you’re using zoom.

Indoor sports shots are often taken under poor lighting conditions. Set the shutter to the highest possible speed. Increasing the ISO to 800 or higher will also help freeze the action when the lighting is less than ideal. But make sure that your camera can take good quality pictures at high ISO. Many point-and-shoot models take noisy--or grainy--pictures at those settings.