Preparing for Winter Photography.
I get this question often as folks prepare for trips during the winter months. My winter photography trips usually entail outings that last a couple hours of exposure to the elements (at most), so these tips are based on my experience. For longer adventures, I think these principals will work, but I can not speak from experience. Earlier this year my trip to Wyoming confirmed my research and advice from friends. Winter is tough on photographer more so than gear. The biggest issue noticed was battery life. Your camera battery’s life will drop as it gets cold. I carry no less than 2 or 3 extra batteries in a pocket that is close to my body for warmth. One thing I noticed is if you have a camera mounting plate that does not allow the battery door to open easily without removing it will make it a little more difficult. You would have to remove the plate, change the battery, then replace the plate. I use “L” brackets that allow me to change the battery without interference. One way to improve battery life, during prolonged breaks from shooting, I keep my camera under my jacket to keep it warm. This won’t work with long lenses obviously if you are shooting wildlife.
I have been told that sometimes the LCD screen will turn a slight “blue” tint, but that goes away when it warms back up. Be careful taking your camera to and from cold to humid interiors. Condensation forms and that becomes ice when you go back outside. Let your camera acclimatize when you go out to shoot. When our group traveled to our morning shoot (that is when it was coldest) I would leave my camera out of the bag while we drove, this helped. Unless we were traveling more than 30 minutes the car never reached a warm temperature that would cause condensation. Camera lenses seemed to function very well and we had no instances of any problems with the functioning of lenses. There were a couple times though the contacts between lens and body caused an error on the photographer’s camera body. Re-seating the lens usually fixed the problem. I tend to use manual focus for landscapes, so focus was not an issue either. For wildlife, my Tamron SP 150-600mm G2 lens never failed or had any problems. Most of the time we were in temps below zero degrees.
My Sirui tripod worked flawlessly. I prefer tripods with twist locks, which for me in cold conditions is much easier to operate. On the coldest of mornings, -30 degrees and colder, the ballhead became a little stiff but was still operable. It just took a little time to set up the composition.
As for the photographer…dress warm, and dress in layers. I use 2 sets of gloves, a thin layer then a normal glove. When I am shooting I remove the thicker glove from my right hand. Dress as warm as you need to dress to stay comfortable, but make sure you can move. You don’t want to trip and fall with your gear. Face planting in the snow is not fun, I tested that theory one time. My feet on a -34 degree morning got a little chilly, so in the off season I purchased a pair of Sorel boots to combat that. One photographer, not with our group, actually got frost bite on his cheek from pressing his face against the back of his camera for a prolonged time. We saw him later in our stay and he showed us his “spots” on his cheek. Be careful. And oh, try not to breathe on the viewfinder while standing there, condensation on the viewfinder means frost, you have to clear it to see!
Have fun and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me. If I don’t have the answer, I will direct you or get the answer for you if I can. Winter can be a great time to capture really unique images, so get out there and enjoy!
Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 1600, shutter speed of 1/500th of a second, Sirui W2204X waterproof tripod and K20X ballhead, MindShift Gear FirstLight 30L backpack, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #MindShiftGear
