Learn what camera and outdoor gear Nikon ambassador, photographer, and director Corey Rich brings outside on personal photography days.
Corey Rich is an award-winning creative and has been a part of numerous professional productions relating to the outdoor world in all seasons. He also was a cinematographer on the production team for The Dawn Wall. So, to say he has his systems dialed for winter photography and harsh or unusual conditions would be an understatement.
I like that Rich first and foremost introduces the idea of staying warm and dry when photographing outside in the winter. The key to any successful shoot in the outdoors, especially in the brutal cold or adverse weather conditions, is comfort. I've definitely been photographing landscapes or skiing in the winter with freezing toes and fingers because I forgot an extra pair of mittens or socks. Sometimes positive shoots in the outdoors goes beyond just the camera gear but also the clothing you bring along.
Rich mentions that he carries two batteries, but I would suggest carrying three or even four if possible. Winter's cold often zaps batteries much faster than the warmth of other seasons, so I'm a big believer in the idea that you can never have enough power. The last thing you want is to run out of juice in your camera while in the middle of a shoot. Further, if you're doing an overnight camping trip in the winter, remember to keep your batteries warm through the night so they don't die in the cold. One simple way to do this is by keeping them in your sleeping bag when you go to sleep. I also like to keep my batteries in a jacket pocket close to my body during the day so that the cold doesn't drain them like it would if they were to sit in my camera bag.
Watch the video above to hear more of Corey Rich's winter photography gear suggestions.
Lead image taken by Kevin McAvey.
So I'm no pro winter action photographer or anything or anything like that but I grew up living in and hiking in extremely cold climates so I like to know I know a thing or two. (For example, my profile photo was taken standing in the middle of a frozen lake in -35C)
Some of my best tips are:
1. If you are going to be standing on ice for a long period of time, bring something to stand on. a small piece of wood or foam works best but even some corrugated cardboard is great. Any additional layers you can add between the souls of your shoes and ice will make a huge difference in how fast your feet shed heat.
2. Always carry a couple of large ziplock bags. This way, when you get back to the car you can put your camera in the ziplock and seal it. As the car heats up, the moisture on your breath may condense on the camera but if the camera is in a sealed bag it will condense on the outside of the bag instead. Not as huge of a deal for weather sealed bodies, but my mantra is to put anything that could potentially be damaged by moisture into the ziplock before it goes anywhere warm (card, cabin, etc)
3. In extreme cold bring tons of extra batteries for everything. Batteries can lose as much as 50% of their performance in extreme cold. Plan accordingly.
4. Have lots of food and eat frequently. The best thing you can do to keep your body warm is by making sure it has plenty o fuel to make body heat with.
This is some awesome advice, Ryan! Thanks for sharing!! Number 2 is great and I'd never think of number 1!
Hi Tim - I'm not sure about your comments at the end of the article. As I understand it, cold temperatures don't actually drain charge from batteries. The effect of cold is to make the batteries significantly less efficient at discharging. So if a battery at 100% gets really really cold, but then warms back up, it will still be at 100%. So it shouldn't matter whether you keep it in your sleeping bag or not overnight. However it does make sense to keep batteries warm in an inner pocket, and to swap them frequently, so the battery inside your camera is always as warm as possible.