Mark Theriot As a beginning photographer, Mark Theriot's best source of subjects were to be found at the nearby Mississippi River. “Having nothing else to shoot, it drove me outside,†he said. In time he developed into a noted outdoor photographer, specializing in pictures of birds, and especially eagles.
Spending four to five hours at a clip outdoors year round has taught him a few things about cold weather photography. Mr. Theriot here offers some tips for keeping your camera (and fingers) in working order even in subzero temperatures.
Don't Condense One of the big dangers to your camera is condensation. Take a warm camera into the cold and condensation can wet the inside of your lenses and dampen the works of the camer a. To avoid that problem slowly raise or lower your camera's temperature. Mr. Theriot uses his camera bag as a insulator against quick temperature changes. “If I am going on a really, really cold shoot, I leave the camera out in the bag overnight.â€
Do the same when you bring the bag inside, giving it at least six hours to warm, he said. “Take out batteries and memory cards before bringing the camera in,†he said. That way you don't have to take the camera from the bag prematurely to upload shots or charge the batteries.
No Bad Breath The other source of condensation is your breath. “Be aware of breathing through your nose,†Mr. Theriot said. Mouth breathing can frost your lens. He also uses a Hoodman Eyecup on his camera, which moves his face back enough to provide a margin of safety. Be careful if you goof. “If you have wet moisture, you can wipe it off,†he said. But, he added, “frost is a different animal.†For frost, you have to warm the l ens surface and wipe the moisture, otherwise “you just end up smearing stuff around.†He also uses an anti-fogging agent, Cat Crap, on his lenses.
Preserve Power Cold kills battery power. So you might consider keeping your batteries inside your coat, right? Wrong. “Put your battery in the outside pocket,†Mr. Theriot said. “It doesn't do a lot of good to have your batteries and memory card under four layers of clothes.†His trick is to put chemical hand warmers in the pocket with the batteries, usually whatever is on sale. “I look for ones that are at least six hours in duration.†Also, getting an accessory battery grip can double your shooting time.
Love Your Gloves Touching cold metal with bare hands is a good way to lose digits. “I've darn near had frostbite,†Mr. Theriot said. “I do my best not to take my gloves off.†To manage that, he uses presets on his camera, which can be programmed to his most common shutter and aperture setups, making it easy to switch between them. Mr. Theriot wears liners in case he needs to manipulate the settings. Over the liners are Thinsulate gloves, and over those, arctic gloves. “You either adapt or you don't get to shoot very long,†he said.
