Over the New Year I had the privilege of spending 4 days on the Gun Flint Trail in Northern Minnesota near the Boundary Waters. It is a beautiful place and if you ever get the chance to go, you should do that!
As you can imagine, it was COLD! The temps ranged from +5 to -15 degrees F. I have never shot in those type of conditions, so I did some research. I took what others had recommended, tweaked it to what I thought made sense to me and worked for my situation and gave shooting pictures in a -15 degree weather a shot. Overall success.
I thought I would through a couple of pointers out there that I learned and ask for comments, further advise, experiences, etc from our followers.
Here are my tips:
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Battery life goes fast. Fast is an understatement. I did not have my battery grip for the 30D I shoot with, so my battery lasted about 1 hour. I did have a spare so I was golden. After 2 hours of shooting, you need to step in to warm up anyway…
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Do not, I repeat, DO NOT shoot in cold temps and take your camera indoors. Doing this will cause a large about of condensation that will build up on your camera equipment and then refreeze (yes freeze in doors) and eventually thaw. I found that putting my camera back in my camera bag and bringing my camera bag indoors where it is warm for about 45 minutes to a full hour prevented any condensation.
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Be careful shooting when it is that cold. My friend actually got frost bite from his nose contacting the camera body. It could be because he was using a Nikon D300, but I think the cold had something to do with it as well.
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Plan ahead, stay warm and have fun!
These are my few pointers, I would love to hear from you what your have learned over the years.
Matt