Photography opportunities abound whenever the seasons change. But sometimes, the seasons bring challenges, such as using and protecting camera gear in the winter when the temperature drops well below freezing.
Wildlife photographers witness and photograph the dramatic behavioral changes and sometimes physiological changes of the creatures they hunt with their lenses; landscape photographers take in the blazing colors of fall, the bright blooms of spring, the warm colors of summer sunsets, and the snowy bright whites of freezing winters; and even portrait and commercial photographers may find themselves with clients who either need, or want, to take advantage of the changing of the seasons for their photographic needs.
All this can be said for videographers as well.
So how do you make the most of winter photography opportunities while protecting yourself as the photographer and while also protecting your expensive cameras and lenses? After shooting for many years in the cold weather of the upper Midwest, here’s what has worked for us.
Keeping the Photographer Safe and Warm
The most important consideration when working as a photographer or videographer in extreme cold temperatures is personal safety. Frostbite can set in quickly and injuries from it can be debilitating.
In sub-freezing temperatures, the wind chill can cause exposed skin to freeze faster than might be expected. When the temperature drops to below zero (Fahrenheit), even protected appendages can suffer. Feet and fingers are the first to go as the body works to counteract the cold by withdrawing blood from the extremities to keep vital organs working.
To keep working under such conditions, protective gear is necessary, starting with the head. A warm hat helps the body retain heat and more than likely moderates the body’s thermoregulatory system, probably delaying the onset of circulatory restriction of blood flow to the extremities. In other words, wearing a hat will likely keep your fingers and toes warmer for longer. More obviously, wearing a warm hat keeps your ears from freezing as when uncovered, the ears are particularly exposed and prone to frostbite.
Extreme cold also calls for warm boots and gloves. Look for boots with a high degree of thinsulate-type insulation. This tends to work better than traditional pack boots. Couple these boots with wool socks for best performance.
For gloves, similar advice applies: the more thinsulate-type insulation the better. Look for at least 150 grams of insulation. Some brands offer 200 grams. More is better. For those particularly prone to cold hands, look for mitts instead of gloves, though for the photographer, gloves offer needed dexterity.
Keeping your core warm is also necessary, and this is best achieved through layers. A light and tight undergarment should be covered by another layer, preferably comprised of wool. On top of that, an external, warmly insulated shell. A modern improvement that can help comes in the form of battery powered warming jackets. We use the winter coats powered by the M12 system of batteries from Milwaukee Tool. They have proven to be quality coats even when unpowered. Add a battery and they help stave off the cold. An extra setting on these warms the pockets, which can be a great advantage for warming up cold hands.
Prepping Your Camera for the Cold
For the photographer, the challenge is to keep the body warm when working in the cold. This is the reverse of what is needed for cameras. Instead, before operating a camera in cold weather, we find it good practice to cool off the camera and get it down to the ambient temperature of the environment in which it will be used, first.
To do this, we start by making sure our cameras are turned off and then placing our cameras and any lenses we anticipate using, along with any other equipment, into a sturdy and reasonably thick camera bag. For this, we like bags that are closed by zipper to create a relatively sealed aperture from the external environment.
Next, depending on how cold the external working temperature is expected to be, we place the bagged cameras into that environment to bring them down to the ambient temperature. The differential in temperature between the internal, warmed environment where the cameras are stored and the external working temperature dictate the amount of time we use to acclimate the cameras. If the temperature is only one or two degrees below freezing, we may only let the cameras acclimated for 30 to 60 minutes. Colder temperatures will take longer, perhaps two hours.
We have found that once the cameras are cooled to the ambient environmental temperature they can be safely used.
Note, however, that there is always a risk. Always use your best judgement on what makes sense for you and your equipment and be prepared to take a loss if your camera malfunctions due to extreme cold.
Back to the Heat
At the end of a shoot in cold weather, an even more daunting challenge is returning the cold cameras back to a heated and conditioned space such as your home, studio or office.
Under normal conditions our practice is simply to reverse the prior procedure. We turn our cameras off, then place them back into the camera bag. Sealing the camera bag, we then like to gradually return it to room temperature.
We are usually able to do this because there is often some distance to commute back from the location of the shoot. Under those circumstances, the heater in the vehicle gradually warms the space inside the car and around the camera bag, beginning the process of warming the cameras.
Once back to home or office, we bring the cameras in, keeping them in the bag. Then, we place the bag in a safe spot and ignore it for at least several hours. Usually we let the bag sit unopened until the next day. By then, the cameras have fully warmed up and can be turned on again.
What About Precipitation?
We change procedures a bit if we are shooting in precipitation, such as snow, sleet or freezing rain. Under such circumstances, we try to keep the cameras as dry as possible, but they always get wet to some degree. Whenever we return to shelter, then, we use a dry, microfiber cloth to wipe down any equipment that was exposed to the precipitation. If it is the end of the day, the cameras go into the bag after they are wiped down.
A Note About Cameras and Lenses
All of the above should come with a giant asterisk, meaning that these methods may not be sufficient for all types of cameras and lenses.
There are cameras that we will use under harsh conditions and there are cameras we would rather not expose to such conditions if it is possible to avoid it.
Most of the time when we are shooting in extreme cold and sometimes snowy or rainy conditions, we use cameras from Canon’s lines of weather-sealed cameras, specifically the 5D-series and 1D- series cameras. These lines have extensive weather sealing when paired with a weather-sealed lens that has a UV filter attached. These cameras are still not “waterproof,” but they are “hardened” to a useful degree. Over two decades of using these cameras in these conditions, we have not had a failure.
The cameras we have used safely in extreme cold and sometimes snowy conditions without problems are:
- Canon 7D
- Canon 5D Mark III
- Canon 5D Mark IV
- Canon 1D Mark II
- Canon 1Ds Mark III
These are all from various eras of Canon’s professional lines of cameras and they have all performed well under difficult conditions.
Canon and other manufacturers make other cameras that may not have the same degree of weather sealing, or may have no weather sealing at all. We do not recommend shooting with those cameras under extreme conditions.
And always, “your mileage may vary” as the saying goes.
Ultimately, you shoot under extreme conditions at your own risk — and that goes for both you and your cameras.
Equipment Used and Affiliate Links
We shoot with Canon professional DSLRs. If you'd like to get your own copies of these cameras, and lenses to go with them, and support us a bit at the same time, we recommend shopping at MPB.com.
For cold weather boots we recommend and use the following:
- Columbia Men’s Newton Ridge Plus II Waterproof Omni Heat Hiking Shoe. On Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3ZWabLc
- Rocky Blizzard Stalker Waterproof 1200G Insulated Boot. On Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3OWZHor
- Baffin Women’s Judy Snow Boot. On Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3ZVxqVB
For cold weather gloves we recommend and use the following:
- Wasoto heated gloves for women. On Amazon at: https://amzn.to/4gCv2IX
- Kinco thermal lined deerskin work gloves. On Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3OUG9kO
- Kingsbom -40F waterproof & windproof thermal gloves. On Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3OVNYqt
For cold weather coats we recommend:
- Milwaukee ToughShell Lithium Ion Cordless Heated Jacket (M12 system batteries). We’ve used these for three seasons of extreme cold Northwoods winters. Strongly recommended! On Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3Bmky1z
