We are getting snow near our house in Alaska, and the other night we went out to photograph aurora with temps in the low 20s. That is pretty balmy for us, I honestly can’t wait for subzero temps and beautiful pink winter light. Cree and I have made plans for arctic roadtrips this winter, we’re headed to the Brooks Range where last year temps were -40F. The photography was sublime!
We often are shooting from our truck. We will be driving along the road and come across a beautiful shot. The inside of the car can be around 50 degrees, and then we jump out to take photos at – 30F. There is one thing you need to watch…trapping warm air in your lens hood. If I am shooting a 600mm F4 with a big hood, the hood will collect warm air inside the car. When this warm air is exposed to the outside cold there will be a noticeable heat shimmer effect. In other words, your images won’t be sharp. Last winter I forgot this effect and couldn’t understand why my long lens bird images were soft. But then I started taking off my lens hood when I got out of the car, letting cold air blow through, and then reattaching the hood…problem solved! We started driving with our car heater off to minimize this effect, but at -40 it is nice to have the heater on at least a little. With smaller lens hoods this effect will be less since fresh air can circulate easy.
Winter is a great time for photography. Don’t let the snow and cold keep you at home, get out the warm clothes and go explore magical winter photography!