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cold weather photography

mitch brown

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Apr 25, 2006
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352
Location
Boston Georgia
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going to yellowston for a week. any help on using my 4 x5 , film storage, just any thing that might be a factor . i have never shot in the snow so any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
mitch
 
Dress warmly for extreme temperatures. It's a matter of life or death. Get excellent cold weather boots. ( http://www.schnees.com/ ) And good face protection and an excellent cold weather hat. Double layer of lightweight gloves and heavyweight mittens work for the hands.

Don't bring your gear in or out of warm, humid places quickly. Make sure your camera gear moves from the extreme outside temps to inside temperatures very slowly. Everything needs adjustment time. Remember if you lenses flog up, your film is doing the samething. Don't shoot until it all clears, which might take a while if it freezes.

Frozen moisture will clear through transpiration, but it takes a while.

I use to live in Montana about a hour from Yellowstone. You can shoot in the cold with no problems if you're prepared.

Warm up the shutter with a few firings before putting film in the camera for your exposure.
 
I did a winter photography workshop in the White Montains of NH once. I was the only one shooting LF, and many of the participants were shooting digital. The biggest problem that participants on the workshop had was with batteries - they die quickly in the cold. Not a problem for me!

What Pinholemaster says about condensation is true - I keep all my stuff in a backpack which has a fair amount of insulation around it, and try not to open it up soon after going inside or outside. Quickload film has less thermal mass than traditional film holders, so it shouldn't have issues if your lens doesn't have issues.

I shoot mostly B&W, and living in Maine have seen snow (although not much this year). One trick to get more texture in your snow shots is to use a yellow filter, the shadows on the snow are being illuminated by the blue sky, and are therefore blue with a yellow filter the texture will be accentuated.
 
Put your camera, lenses, film holders etc. in a plastic garbage bag before bringing it inside. After it has had time to reach room temperature, you can take it out with no condensation problem.

Any brand of the nylon/rubber with the removable felt liner high boots should work well.
 
wager123 said:
going to yellowston for a week. any help on using my 4 x5 , film storage, just any thing that might be a factor . i have never shot in the snow so any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
mitch
Click to expand...

Are your lenses recent (less than, say 10 years old)? Ancient shutters that have always worked fine in normal temperatures can gum up when it gets cooler.

Cheers,

R.
 
Light meter...

If your light meter has batteries, keep your light meter in your pants pocket (is that a light meter in your pocket, or are you just excited about the light?"), or in an inner pocket under your jacket to keep the battery warm and functional.

Working with a 4x5 at 18F, I had one wool mitten -- I would switch the mitten from one hand to the other while setting and adjusting the camera (kept the other one in my pocket to keep it warm.) Finger-less gloves (with a large pair of gloves or mittens to go over them would work well, too.)

A wool cap is the great to have.

I kept my photo equipment (except meter) in my sister's unheated garage (while visiting the cold country -- Spokane, WA), rather than bring it indoors to the warmth.

vaughn
 
I second what Johnny Walker said. Place all equipment and film into sealed plastic bags before bringing indoors and let them warm up before opening.

PE
 
I agree with most of what's said. I let my stuff get cold outside, though. It's the warming up part that requires care. I just leave everything in my camera bag, which I have fully closed. It's sealed enough that condensation isn't a problem as long as I give it a couple of hours to warm up.

Outside, though, I let everything get cold. I have spare batteries for my powered stuff, and I keep them warm, but trying to keep the gear itself warm is a lot of bother and unnecessary. Good equipment will work in extremely cold temperatures.
 
Living where I do, I have LOTS of experience with shooting in the cold. All the advice here is good, but no-one has mentioned to wear a hat. You can lose up to 60% of body heat through your unprotected head. Wear a warm wool hat that covers your ears too. I was a ski patroller for many years and often said to people, if your feet are cold, put your hat on.

You might want to try a sporting goods store that caters to hunters to find a pair of mitts that allow you to either slip a warm trigger finger through a slit in the mitt or fold the end of the mitt back to expose the tips of the fingers. Some people call them glmitts, a half-glove with a mitt-like part over the exposed ends of the fingers that can be folded back.

edit -just re-read the post, and pinholemaster mentioned a hat. I'll just plead insanity....
 
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I like wearing Isotoner type gloves inside of Mittens that have a fingertip flap. Always keep a second pair of gloves in case something gets wet. I keep them close to my body so they are warm if I have to use them. Gives me use of my hands when needed.

Since my feet directly impact whether the rest of my body is cold, I make sure that I have really good boots that are insulated and 100% water proof. I usually only wear silk type socks to keep them from sweating much.

Having grown up on a ranch in Montana, the biggest mistake I saw was people wearing multiple pairs of heavy socks in side boots that were not very water proof. Remember, air is sometimes as much of an insulator as anything. I used to sometimes carry spare socks as well.

Wear layers. Sometimes it can be freezing in the early morning, but if it is a sunny day, and you are hiking, you want to be able to shed layers and then add them back on later. So keep a good weatherproof bag (black garbage bag) to keep your clothes dry.

Don't care what you look like, just so long as you are warm, dry and comfortable. I have had some silly looks in the general store after feeding cows in the early morning at 20 below. But, I was warm!!!
 
Hi Mitch,
I posted a question last winter about how to keep my hands warm after constant exposure to cold winds & even colder camera controls. Following some good advice (sorry I forget the individuals name) I picked up 2 sets of chemical hand warmers. Small liquid pouches with a metal disc. Bend the disc to activate a chem. reaction and you get about 1 hours worth of heat.
Best of all is that at the end of the day you take the now rock hard pouches,wrap them in socks and boil them to reenergize the units.
Now you have clean socks and hand warmers ready for another day's shooting.

Mike
 
thanks to you all. i am looking forward to this trip .
so much great advise. thank you all again.this is a great site i just hope to one day be able to display some work that is worthy of it.
thanks
Mitch
 
If you can get a pair of long underwear that wicks the moisture from your body you will be alot more comfortable. Do not wear cotton next to your skin. Its holds water and you will be cold in very short time. Although I find wool uncomfortable it will keep you warm even if you fall in the lake.

It has been awhile since we have had cold weather. Tonight it is supposed to be 7 degrees. At this temperature it is easy to overheat if you dress to warmly and are very active outside. Be sure to layer as someone said earlier. Also drink plenty of water and pee often.
 
Mitch, I forgot to tell you....enjoy your time viewing one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Where are you planning to start from? The LaMar basin or valley is probably my favorite area. A breathtaking drive if you have time and the road is open is to go from Cooke City around to Red Lodge Montana.
Tower Falls is nice. On the south side you can see the Tetons if the weather is clear. Yellowstone Lake is beautiful in the winter. The Grand Falls is always spectacular especially when viewed from Yellowstone Canyon. And of course Old Faithful. I could go on and on about all of the wonderful areas.
You may want to check out Tom Murphy's web site:
http://tmurphywild.com/index.php
He has been photographing Yellowstone for more years then I can remember.

Enjoy, and keep us posted on the trip.
 
I second the chemical handwarmers. Also, polypropyline underwear and sock liners, a balaclava that can cover your nose (be careful about condensation on ground glass from your breath while focusing), and waterproof boots. I leave my camera in the back of the truck when it is cold so that it is not repeatedly warming up and cooling off as I get in and out of the vehicle. Good sunglasses are helpful in the snow. I don't yet have one, but I always curse myself for not having a filter wrench because sometimes the filters jam during temperature fluctuations.
 
Pinholemaster said:
Dress warmly for extreme temperatures. It's a matter of life or death. Get excellent cold weather boots...
Click to expand...

I'll be out shooting the Tetons in February. I'll second the warm boots advice, multiple layers and the polypropaline underwear. No cotton! Check out Cabela's Outfitters for a good selection of cold weather gear. www.cabelas.com. Better yet, go to one of their stores if you can. Jeff King (4 time Iditarod winner) gets his gear there.
 

There are a lot better thermals than polypropylene.

Rich
 
Does film behavior (sensitivity, reciprocity, etc) change at different ambient temperatures? I.e. does a given film perform differently at 40C versus -20C?
 
naturephoto1 said:
There are a lot better thermals than polypropylene.

Rich
Click to expand...

Yes, I know. I didn't want to go into the fabric specifics on here but I use Cabela's ThermaStat as a first layer. It's a blend of synthetic fibers that wick moisture away from the skin. It's also reasonably priced unlike the compression fit styles like Under Armour. Anyways, the point was to avoid cotton as a first layer, not to get into a debate as to who makes the best synthetic fiber base layer.
 
A further thought on hats. If you can find one, flying helmets are really good and very compact. My wife and I bought a couple each 20 years ago and still use them. Vintage sportscar magazines are a good place to start looking for manufacturers (we had a TR4 at the time).

Cheers,

R.
 
Rlibersky said:
polypropylene should not be used as a thermal underwear. It is a first layer to help wick away the moisture. It won't retain any warmth.
Click to expand...

That is quite true but I believe that some makers did or still do make inexpensive thermals out of polypropylene. Good thermal layers are frequently made out of polyster in different forms and trade marks and designs (with special properties), merino wool, silk... But a good layering sytem is normally designed to keep warmth in and also to wick moisture away and pass it to the next layer. That is in part dependant on the properties and designs of different natural fibers and synthetic fabrics.

Rich
 
I recently acquired a pair of Extremities Sticky Powerstretch gloves. They can be worn as a liner glove in seriously cold conditions and on their own provide a surprising amount of warmth for their bulk/weight. The 'sticky' bits give you a sure grip and I can easily change a roll of 120 in a Mamiya C330S while wearing them.

They are also the best driving gloves I've ever had!
 
DrPablo said:
Does film behavior (sensitivity, reciprocity, etc) change at different ambient temperatures? I.e. does a given film perform differently at 40C versus -20C?
Click to expand...

I can't comment about 40 C but I can tell you that I have noticed no visible difference between shots taken at temperatures between about 35 C and -30 C, at least not that can be attributed to the temperature of the film.

Shutters can get sluggish in cold weather, which can affect exposure, of course. But this is a rarer problem than I would have guessed it to be.
 
I remembered these two tips after an outing at -10C.

Cheap cable releases break in the cold. Get a good one or bring a spare. The guy at the Camera store tells me they have a run on them everytime it gets cold here.

Bring a 30 cm x 30 cm square of sleeping mat foam. (The blue stuff) It is great for kneeling down in the snow and keeping you dry. It is also good to sit on when you are warming up with a cup of hot tea.
 
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