Need some advice on photography in winter

[estronutz]

Hi

I'll be leaving for Korea next week. It is winter now and I'm an absolute noob with regards to what to bear in mind protecting your equipment and winter photography. I've read about warming your batteries ... putting your cameras in plastic bags to prevent condensation ... dah dah dah ...

But still, I'll be very grateful if anyone has any experiences to share about photography during winter ... :embrass:

Thanks in advance !

Regards
J

 

[tribal.snake]

bring additional batts
keep ur cam 'warm' by wrapping it with ur clothes, socks work well
condensation, can't be helped, not much anyway.
watch the white balance and metering, white snow is not easy to shoot.

 

[hongsien]

Keep the camera + lens warm at the warmest place of your body (near your groin) you will also attract more women this way especially if you have a long lens......

HS

 

[jcryan55]

a few things to note:

1. Keep the batteries warm. winter cold can drain a battery in 15 minutes time.
2. Keep a heat pack in your camera back. The heat pack is cheap and is easily available at shops that sells winter wear in Singapore. Cost abt $1 each and is made of activated carbon and is great to keep yr hands and camera warm to retain the battery life.
3. You will need a good camera glove. Probably the thinner version of the Thinsulate gloves will give u better nimbleness with your fingers.
4. Where possible, keep warm yr hands in gloves. Long exposure in the winter cold will made yr hands freezed til u will have problem clenching yr fist. So, u can forget abt able to operate yr gears properly after that.
5. A Scarf is very essentail to keep out the cold wind. Wind is always a Killer.
6. Dun underestimate the usefulness of a tripod in winter. Becos if u may not have noticed, u r probably trembling away while u try to shoot on the camera.
7. Dun breathe too hard when u r focusing through the viewfinder as yr breath will cause a condesnation fog out in yr VF.

Hope that helps......

 

[gooseberry]

Some great tips... an added note regarding batteries in the cold - they don't actually run flat in the cold, just that it gets too cold for the chemical reaction to take place, once they are warmed up again, they will be back to normal. So good idea to have two batteries - one in the camera, and another kept warm inside your jack or something. When the battery in the camera looks like it is flat, swap it with the warm battery and warm up the cold battery in your jacket to use again when the other battery gets too cold.

 

[leews2001]

i say, dont forget to protect your fingers, keep them warm. get the good glove that does not obstruct your operation of the camera.

you dont want to end up with painful and numb fingers... which forbids you to take anymore pictures.

 

[estronutz]

bring additional batts
keep ur cam 'warm' by wrapping it with ur clothes, socks work well
condensation, can't be helped, not much anyway.
watch the white balance and metering, white snow is not easy to shoot.

Yea ... I've read about metering and white balance gone wrong with the white snow ... thanks !

Keep the camera + lens warm at the warmest place of your body (near your groin) you will also attract more women this way especially if you have a long lens......

HS

Haha I think i look more like a pervert lol

a few things to note:

1. Keep the batteries warm. winter cold can drain a battery in 15 minutes time.
2. Keep a heat pack in your camera back. The heat pack is cheap and is easily available at shops that sells winter wear in Singapore. Cost abt $1 each and is made of activated carbon and is great to keep yr hands and camera warm to retain the battery life.
3. You will need a good camera glove. Probably the thinner version of the Thinsulate gloves will give u better nimbleness with your fingers.
4. Where possible, keep warm yr hands in gloves. Long exposure in the winter cold will made yr hands freezed til u will have problem clenching yr fist. So, u can forget abt able to operate yr gears properly after that.
5. A Scarf is very essentail to keep out the cold wind. Wind is always a Killer.
6. Dun underestimate the usefulness of a tripod in winter. Becos if u may not have noticed, u r probably trembling away while u try to shoot on the camera.
7. Dun breathe too hard when u r focusing through the viewfinder as yr breath will cause a condesnation fog out in yr VF.

Hope that helps......

Thats comprehensive ... Thanks! Btw, any idea on where to get those gloves ?

Some great tips... an added note regarding batteries in the cold - they don't actually run flat in the cold, just that it gets too cold for the chemical reaction to take place, once they are warmed up again, they will be back to normal. So good idea to have two batteries - one in the camera, and another kept warm inside your jack or something. When the battery in the camera looks like it is flat, swap it with the warm battery and warm up the cold battery in your jacket to use again when the other battery gets too cold.

Noted!

Thanks!

 

[syl]

For photographing in the snow, you'll need to set your exposure compensation to +1 or +2 otherwise your snow scenes will be grey rather than white. Experiment with different settings till you find the correct amount of over-exposure to set.

I'd say carry 3 camera batteries with you just in case the other one does not warm up in time.

You'll need sunglasses, of course, to protect your eyes from the glare that snow will give off.

Wear boots with woollen socks and thermal underwear is a must. Its best that you dress in multiple layers of clothing so that you can discard a layer or 2 if it gets too warm.

Surprisingly but you get dehydrated faster in extreme cold weather so remember to take sufficient fluids to prevent that.

Protect your camera and lenses by placing them in a zipped up camera bag and do not open the bag in a warm room. Ziplock bags also work but if you expose them to the heat, moisture will definitely enter into your camera body and lenses and the long-term outcome will be less than desirable. Open your camera bag/ziplock only when you are out in the cold once more. Take out your CF/SD cards if you intend to view your images in a warm room.

Have F U N!

 

[jcryan55]

the thinsulate gloves can be bought at the adventure gear shops. They can be found at Camper's Corner at Capitol Building, Outdoor specialists at 2nd flr Peninsula Plaza, Adventure 21 at Chinatown point & there's one I cannot remember the shop name at Seah Street, opposite Raffles Hotel.

 

[estronutz]

For photographing in the snow, you'll need to set your exposure compensation to +1 or +2 otherwise your snow scenes will be grey rather than white. Experiment with different settings till you find the correct amount of over-exposure to set.

I'd say carry 3 camera batteries with you just in case the other one does not warm up in time.

You'll need sunglasses, of course, to protect your eyes from the glare that snow will give off.

Wear boots with woollen socks and thermal underwear is a must. Its best that you dress in multiple layers of clothing so that you can discard a layer or 2 if it gets too warm.

Surprisingly but you get dehydrated faster in extreme cold weather so remember to take sufficient fluids to prevent that.

Protect your camera and lenses by placing them in a zipped up camera bag and do not open the bag in a warm room. Ziplock bags also work but if you expose them to the heat, moisture will definitely enter into your camera body and lenses and the long-term outcome will be less than desirable. Open your camera bag/ziplock only when you are out in the cold once more. Take out your CF/SD cards if you intend to view your images in a warm room.

Have F U N!

the thinsulate gloves can be bought at the adventure gear shops. They can be found at Camper's Corner at Capitol Building, Outdoor specialists at 2nd flr Peninsula Plaza, Adventure 21 at Chinatown point & there's one I cannot remember the shop name at Seah Street, opposite Raffles Hotel.

Thanks for all the replies really appreciate ...

 

[vortex]

Good tips man!! im taking notes as well!!!

 

[Anti-Social]

Juz went there, actually I did a full day shoot without warming my batts at all :bsmilie: plus the regular leather gloves were flexible enough for me to operate my cam, although at nice scenery's i get excited and take off gloves totaly :sweat: