Cree and I just walked in the door from a week of arctic photography, an incredible trip. As expected temps hit -40F and colder, today the high is -45F at the lodge we stayed at along the Yukon river…brrrr! After numerous posts of cold weather clothing, here are some tips for actually shooting in these types of conditions.
Keep the car cold. We were driving on the Dalton Highway searching for animals, birds, scenes. We would jump out when we saw a photo…this could be 10 minutes or hours depending on the situation. But don’t leave your heaters blasting in your car. Your camera will fog up going from 60 degrees to -30F really quick. Better to keep things a little cooler. If your cameras are really cold and you are driving for awhile, put them in a pack before you get back in the car so they don’t rewarm as quickly.
Leave the car running. If you are remote, and it is -40F, consider leaving the car running all the time you are out. We never turned our car off…getting stuck on a remote road in the Brooks Range with no one around is serious business at these temps. You don’t want to turn the key and have your car not working. Make sure you have a block heater installed in your truck to plug in at night, and a fresh battery. Don’t lock yourself out!
Heat shimmer. We had 600mm and 800mm in the car ready to go for wildlife. We shot from our car to prevent scaring some birds, but once again a warm car is a problem. The large lens hood will hold onto warm air when you stick it out the window, so make sure to take the hood off to avoid a hot pocket of air in your hood causing acuity problems…we lost a few images this way. If we shot from the car I opened all the windows to let the hot air out to avoid shimmer issues. Yes, we were wearing our arctic parkas in the car since it quickly got chilly!
Camera batteries. The cold will drain batteries faster, so have a few spares. That said the large batteries on my Z9 did great, lasting for hours in the subzero temps, even shooting long exposures of aurora. My top panel and back panel LCD all kept working in these temps.
Warm and cool color. One of the main draws of winter arctic photography is the exquisite light. Pink pastel skies contrast beautifully with cold frozen landscapes. Look for these warm/cool scenes, they create striking images. And if you are in the far north, this light lasts for hours.
More than your iPhone. Depending on where you travel, if it is going to be -40F, make sure you have phone and communication reception. On the Dalton Highway north of Fairbanks there isn’t cell phone reception, so we brought our satellite phone and a CB radio to talk to passing truckers if needed.
White exposures. We photographed white birds on white snow, so make sure you use exposure compensation to get the right exposure. I opened up 1.5 stops to get my willow ptarmigan white instead of gray (your meter wants to make white middle tone gray).
Check the front of your lens. If you are photographing aurora pointed up at the sky check your lens front for frost build up. Just wipe it off with a lens cloth and keep on shooting.