I get a lot of questions about shooting in the winter and cold since I live in Alaska. There are different levels of ‘cold’, and photographers need to prepare accordingly. For many -10F is pretty cold. But what about extreme cold? This winter Fairbanks has had more than 22 days of -40F or colder, and I have found myself shooting many days in temps of -30F to -45F. Last week we had a workshop in the arctic Alaska, and temps hit -47F. Our group did great, they were dressed right, and we had incredible aurora and beautiful landscape shooting. I love shooting in these cold conditions, the photography is incredible! So what happens shooting at -47F? Do cameras stop working? And what exactly do you wear to stay warm? Let me break down our trip from last week to explain.
With the bus temp gauge showing -47F, we knew it was going to be chilly. Most people have never experienced these kind of temperatures, but super cooled air creates beautiful sundogs and ice covered trees. One thing to note right at the start is be safe in your situation…i.e. have a warm building nearby, or have a vehicle that can operate at -47F, and be able to communicate in an emergency (sat phones or star link…no cell service in much of arctic Alaska). If you are cold, go inside the warm car or building.
First, let’s look at what I was wearing. Here is a photo of me dressed for -47F. Starting with the parka, I am wearing an Apocalypse Design expedition parka with a very large fur ruff. My other choice would be a Feathered Friends Rock and Ice parka. Both these coats will keep you warm in -45F or colder (I was toasty in mine). The ruff is critical…just watch any native alaskan jump on his snow machine or run sled dogs…their parkas have huge ruffs. Ruffs create a pocket of warm air in front of your face, noticeable at -20F and colder. Walking around at -45F I could feel how my face was warmer due to protection from the ruff. Ruffs aren’t fashion, they are all about function. All my warm winter parkas have ruffs.
I have a warm hat on, and a Wintergreen neck warmer/face guard over my face. For me the first thing that might get frostbite is my nose and cheeks. Exposed skin at -47F with a slight breeze won’t take long to get cold damage, so neck gaiters are critical. I use a polar fleece version for standing around and shooting the aurora, but if I am moving around and breathing heavier I will wear a neoprene face mask or neck warmer to prevent frost build up. Once a polar fleece neck warmer gets frozen from breathing, it will not stay up on your face.
For base layers I am wearing mid weight Patagonia capilene tops and bottoms. My pants are Mountain Hardware Absolute Zero bibs. These are loaded with down, great features and plenty warm. I also will use Feathered Friends Frontpoint down pants.
Hands are critical, and I have experimented with many glove/mitten systems through the years. I use The Heat Company Merino Liner Pro glove liners along with their Shell Full Leather Pro. I insert small chemical hand warmers into the back of the liner gloves, and put ‘mega handwarmers’ into the leather mitts. Most importantly I have mitten clips on my parka, not a leash that goes around your wrist. I have found wrist leashes can be tight and restrict blood flow to my hands, so I attach my mittens to clips on my parka. I often take my mittens on and off if I need a lot of dexterity. But if I am shooting I will operate my camera as much as possible without taking the mittens off, or unzipping the palm to allow my fingers to operate buttons on the camera. My hands stayed warm at -45F using this system and chemical warmers.
How to keep those feet warm? In the photo above I am wearing Steger Mukluks, 1.5 sizes bigger than normal to allow two thick socks to be worn. The mukluks work well if I am moving around, my feet will stay warm. But if I am standing around I need to wear my Alaska Gear Company bunny boots to keep my feet warm. I wear an alpaca knee high sock and put a JB Fields -40F sock over that…this adds a lot of insulation to my feet.
How do cameras work in -45F? Most cameras will do okay, but batteries go fast and your LCD will start being really sluggish. Just look at your viewfinder for camera information, your LCD may go blank. I am super impressed with the Nikon Z9. This camera can sit on at tripod at -40F for hours and still work great. Batteries will lose power faster than normal, so always have an extra inside your coat or in a warm place ready to go. I carry one deep inside my parka to keep it warm. And by the way, don’t be surprised if your cell phone completely stops working…the cold will shut it down. Carry it inside your parka in a warm place and you should be okay. If you carry it an outside pocket at -45F it will be dead pretty quick.
Smaller batteries may go dead quick really quick. I saw some cameras work about 15 minutes with a ‘new’ battery, and then it went dead. The trick here is keeping your spare batteries warm so you get as much life out of them at -45F before they quit. Sometimes when you warm up dead batteries they have more life in them. Just be ready to switch batteries frequently if you don’t have a Z9 battery.
Lenses work fine…autofocus is normal and all functions worked fine for me in the super cold. Don’t forget to put your camera in a bag before you bring it back into a warm room. Going from -45F to a 60 degree room will result in instant fogging in the camera and lens. I just take out my battery and flash card while still outside, put my camera in a camera bag, and set in the corner of my room for a few hours to warm up. I can recharge batteries or download my images since I have already taken those out. If I am shooting aurora, I leave my camera outside if I am going in to warm up for a few minutes. I put on a lens cap to prevent frost build up on my lens.
Honestly, if you are dressed for extreme cold, you can stay comfortable. It takes some practice photographing in all the layers, but winter photography is magical. Don’t stay inside, layer up and go enjoy photography in the winter!