Winter Wildlife Photography

Many challenges exist when photographing willdife in the winter.  How do you expose for snow?  It’s to cold outside to shoot pictures.  My batteries run down very quickly in cold temperatures.  How do you protect your camera from the elements?  All of these roadblocks are fairly very easy to overcome.  Snow Exposures:  It’s easy if you shoot digital – check your images as soon as you take them.  If I have time I’ll shoot a couple of random test shots in the area where I think something will happen and adjust from there…usually a stop to a stop and a half over the meter reading.  When I was shooting film, I would always overexpose each composition by the same amount and I would also bracket in third stops.  Temperature:  Dress in layers…follow this link from the National Ski Patrol.  Batteries: I always carry a spare battery in a shirt pocket close to my body to keep it warm.  I’ve also used the little chemically activated heat packets if it is really cold.  Camera Protection:  I use a water resistant cover that I made…basically, I took a 3′ X 3′ piece of nylon and sprayed it with a water repellent (I usually do this every month or so to make sure the material is waterproof) and I use and elastic strap to attach it to my lens.  There are also some really cool covers that are custom made for many camera/lens combinations. Follow this link to see some of these covers.  Do some additional research on the web there are several products on the market that make shooting outside in the winter possible and comfortable.