Cold Weather Photography

[dmdiaz]

Hello All,

It's been a long time since I posted, but I finally had a few minutes to post a few photos in the nature and wildlife forum. I also wanted to ask a question: I'm going to go skiing (and photographing) in Lake Louise, Banff National Park in Canada the week between Christmas and New Year's. Being from southern California, I've never had to worry about the cold weather and it's effects on camera equipment. If you have any tips you can give me, I would greatly appreciate it. BTW: I'm still shooting film.

Thanks!

David

[mjs1973]

For the most part, I treat my camera the same way in the cold winter as I do in the hot summer. There are a couple things to be concerned with tho. One is moisture. Going from the cold outdoors to the warm indoors can cause condenstaion to form on your gear. The way I avoid this is to let the camera warm up slowly. I keep it in the case, zipped up, and just let it sit for a while to warm up before opening the case. Once outside, I keep my camera out in the elements as long as it's not snowing. If it is snowing, I keep it in a case just to keep the snow off it. I don't put my camera inside my coat because I don't want my body heat to raise the temp of my camera because that can cause condensation when you take your camera out to shoot. When going back inside where it's warm, I sip it up tight in the case before heading in.

The other big problem with the cold weather is battery life. The cold really drains them fast. I have heard of people wrapping disposable hand warmers around the battery compartmetn. on their camera to keep them warmer. Also, take spare batteries and keep them inside your coat, and close to your body to keep them warm. The warmer they stay, the longer they'll last.

Other than that, I really don't treat my gear any differently than when it's warm out.

[another view]

Michael covered it really well. I'll add a couple things to it:

Cold weather affects some types of batteries more than others. Lithium works best for me, so if your camera can use any type of Lithium I'd pick up a set or two. Energizer makes AA's and they're expensive, but worth it. One of my cameras had an adapter to use two CR123's (which are Lithium batteries) instead of 4xAA's which worked well too.

The best way to warm up the camera and lenses quickly is to put the items into sealed ziploc bags before you bring them inside. Set them out and don't open the bags for an hour or two and you'll be fine. It takes a long time to let a big camera bag warm up - possibly overnight - but slower might be better.

Don't lick a metal tripod.

Finally, keep yourself warm too. Nothing like being miserable because you didn't dress properly. There was a thread here recently on this.

[mjs1973]

Don't lick a metal tripod.

Very solid advice!!! One thing you might consider doing, if you are planning on taking a tripod, is to wrap the legs with something. Grabbing ice cold aluminum is not an enjoyable passtime. Many people go to the hardware store and pick up some foam pipe insulation. The kind that slips over your water pipes so they don't freeze. And if you want, you can lick the foam without worying about getting stuck to it.

[jar_e]

David,

Beautiful ski hills your going to...just got back from a trip to Lake Louise about a month ago. About shooting with the cold weather, you should be relatively fine as long as you follow the instructions for the most part. The one part I would be concerned with though is especially in Banff, it's not rare for the temperature to drop to -25, -30 and than another -10,-15 for windchill. I'd highly recommend NOT shooting if it gets that cold. I'm not sure what the effects would be for the film, but it's awfully cold.

Have fun,

Jared

[Axle]

I use NiMH batteries in my Digicam, and it doesn't have an affect on it's operation. I also used my X-7A in some harsh temperatures last week. Also for operating the camera, I suggest Mechanic's Gloves, keeps yer hands warm yet gives you the needed dextarity to operate it.

[another view]

I'd highly recommend NOT shooting if it gets that cold. I'm not sure what the effects would be for the film, but it's awfully cold.

Nothing mechanical works very well when it's that cold, but you can get some pretty spectacular images in those conditions. Like this one (at the top of this page). I know the guy who took this, and it was on one of his workshops. They got up that morning and wanted to show (photographically) how cold it was. Some people photographed the thermometer, but he came up with a different way to do it.

[jar_e]

I've seen that done before here...quite amazing. Though, we were outside for about a minute than ran back inside the nice warm vehicle!

[JSPhoto]

Nothing mechanical works very well when it's that cold, but you can get some pretty spectacular images in those conditions. Like this one (at the top of this page). I know the guy who took this, and it was on one of his workshops. They got up that morning and wanted to show (photographically) how cold it was. Some people photographed the thermometer, but he came up with a different way to do it.

LOL, I lived in Duluth for several years (5) and visited the Boundry Water Canoe area several times but NOT in the winter! Being in Duluth was "fun" enough in the winter. I remember playing hockey at 29 below zero....praying it would hit -30 so they'd end the game! I wound up with frobite on my feet because of that. haha...my feet haven't been the same since! Now days I'lll take the desert in the winter....but I'm stuck in frosty, snow covered Indiana

JS

[mjs1973]

I went out shooting yesterday morning with my DRebel, with battery grip, and 2 fully charged batteries. The temp was in the 20's. I was only out for about 45 minutes, and took a grand total of 14 pics. I have my camera set up to turn off after 60 seconds of inactivity to save the batteries. I went out again this morning with the same setup, but I didn't charge the batteries, because I only took 14 shots on that charge. It was in the 20's again this morning, and after about 2 or 3 shots, my batteries were reading 1/2 gone!! Not even 20 shots taken, and I didn't even think it was that cold out. I took both batteries out, and stuck them inside my gloves. One in the palm of each hand and just held them for about 15 minutes. When I stuck them back in the camera, it said that I had full power.

Just goes to show you that it doesn't take extreme temps to drain your batteries, and it also doesn't take much to warm them back up again.

[dmdiaz]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the great info. I can't wait to go. We leave on Christmas day and return on New Year's day. I'll be posting photos when I get back.

David