Important Winter Tip For Photographers

Always good info to repeat, John, with winter setting-in. I keep a large (1 gal size) zip-lock bag in my camera bag to put the camera in before going from the inside warmth to the cold outside, to let the camera temp stabilize with the outside. I also do it after being out in the cold before going inside, and as you do, I also let it sit out in the garage (in the zip-lock bag), and let it stabilize there.

Another thing about carrying the zip-lock bag is that my camera bag is not waterproof, so if I get caught out in the rain I can put the camera in the zip-lock and then into the camera bag.

I clicked on this, thinking it was a "how to photograph snow" guide.

Hand warmers are your camera's best friend.

Thanks, John, Greg, and Melany!

Thanks for the info and reminder!

If you keep the camera in a case it should not be much of a problem. Acclimating gear to temperature is not just a winter problem . It also happens if you go from and air conditioned car to a warm moist environment, which happens a lot where I live in Florida.

Mine just gets used and abused......if it breaks I get a new one!

I don't have the luxury of throwaway cameras like Thomas so I keep moisture absorbing silica packs in my bag.

All great reminders with winter upon us soon! Thanks ; )

FWIW.....I beat them, take them in the rain, go from cold to hot, hot to cold...chase storms, get sandblasted, shoot weddings.......

Had to send a few lenses in for maintenance......never had a single issue with a camera body. My 5dII keeps clicking along (did replace shutter in that when it wore out). 5dIII does the same.

What I meant by it breaks I get a new one is that they are insured......

Melany, when you are photographing snow scenes you have to watch out for under-exposure. The brightness causes the image to be too dark. I played around with my camera settings and found that if you look for a midtone within the scene that you are photographing and use spot metering to take a reading that it help. I do this in manual exposure mode and set the aperture to f/16 and then adjust the shutter speed until the indicator is lined up at 0 on the Exposure Level Indicator. Most of my snow scenes come out pretty good.

Best times to shoot in the winter is when the sun is coming up or the sun is going down.

Perhaps, Vickie, the best time to shoot any outdoor image is early morning and later afternoon - or under a partly to mostly cloudy sky

Camera gear is meant to be abused HOWEVER, have you ever actually taken one out in the winter in actual cold Thomas? The problem is, if you want to come in from the cold temporarily and then go back out, like when you ski, that condensation and moisture will mean it will be very difficult to continue taking photographs. The interior of the lens will fog up destroying your chances to take photos for a while, so yes, it is a very real problem and if it is cold that fog and moisture will freeze. You can get a new one, but in a lot of cases it can end your shoot.

Good solutions mentioned. I just leave mine in my pack for a while and let it gradually warm up and then put it straight in to a sealed plastic bag for a while. When it's no longer cold to the touch you are good to go. When tenting in winter it is very important to place it straight in to a sealed bag with 0 delay.