Winter and Photography Gear that Extends Time in the Field

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In winter, the faint of heart take it inside. However, it’s a bit different for outdoor and adventure photographers. With our winter and photography gear, it’s time to embrace and capture the elements. After all, these winter whites, neutrals and soft brights last a brief period before spring’s color eruption.

Since I live in Michigan, there’s a few months of winter ahead. As we move further south, flowers and green foliage start popping in late February. Until the color eruption explodes, let’s gear up and go work the whites of winter.

In the cold climates, the right outer winter and photography gear make a difference in our outdoor time in the field. We’re sharing a few awesome items along with links to extend our shooting time.

Winter and Photography Gear: Protecting Our Camera

For camera care in the harsh elements, these items include our camera bags and accessories.

• When shooting outdoors and our equipment gets cold and damp, drying off our cameras and lenses is top priority. Then, keeping it in your camera bag (or plastic bag) to let the temperature normalize, to prevent condensation. Yes, that also means we need to be patient before downloading our images.

• Protect your gear with camera bags that fit the bill. When we’re traveling to escape the cold, we need to pack tight and efficient. Think Tank bags offer selections from airport bags that take the weight off of our shoulders and backpacks. When hiking, especially in icy and snow conditions, their holster bag frees up hands while protecting your gear.

Both of these camera bags and many others are at KEH Camera where they continue to change and feature terrific deals on various gear and accessories.

• In cold climates, our gear takes a beating, a dousing and even a dusting. There’s several items that make it easy to keep our gear clean, dry and ready to last in the field for a given shoot. The Altura Photo Camera Rain Cover is always in my SUV. Lens Cleanse packets (both at Amazon) reside everywhere. My purse, desktop, camera bags, coat pockets and more. Even after the wet cloth is used, the dry cloths continue to keep our lenses dry in spotty situations.

• In wintry locations with snow and bright whites, we need to manage our highlights and contrast. Circular polarizers (check out B&H Photo and Video’s selection) extend our shooting time as they increase color saturation, improve clarity and details. Plus, they reduce harsh rays . .
• For more info on using lens filters, check out: Fast Tip: Lens Filters Rock Your Images

Taking Care of Ourselves

We take great care of our gear, it’s equally important to take care of ourselves too. We’re providing a few items to keep us warm, dry and as comfortable as possible in the elements.

Warm Hands, Warm Heart: With our outer wear, keeping our feet and hands warm is more than comfort, it’s a safety issue. In extreme cold conditions, battery powered heated gloves keep your hands toasty warm. Sharper Image’s current version is a step up from the ones my hubby surprised me with a few years ago.

Don’t get cold feet! With Sharper Image’s battery charged, heated socks, there’s up to about eight hours of warmth. When our feet are extremely cold, we’re more than not happy, sometimes it’s miserable!

Hot accessories for cold moments that fit the budget: Staying warm with many gear items puts a dent in the budget. A few items that also warm us and our gear include: hand warmers, toe warmers, face mask (very cold climates), eye protection and eye drops. See below.

Do you have a few favorite items not mentioned above? If yes, share them in the comments below. Happy shooting and let’s embrace winter.