[Warning] If you plan on taking photographs outdoors this winter make sure to follow these tips or your images might get ruined
These tips come directly from one of the founders of 500px Evgeny Tchebotarev. Shooting outdoors offers it’s own set of challenges. Now if you throw in winter conditions like snow it becomes even more difficult. This sound advice will definitely help you work with these types of conditions.
1. Increase exposure compensation
When you are shooting during sunny and bright winter conditions, or trying to capture the pure whiteness of the fresh snow, adjust your exposure compensation by +0.3 or +0.7. Cameras don’t know that you are shooting snow (also, technically your camera doesn’t see color as well), so you have to tell the camera that you are shooting something bright and adjust your exposure. Otherwise, your snow will end up looking gray instead of white.
2. Keep batteries warm
Batteries lose their power when exposed to low temperatures. You may be used to getting a few hundred shots in one charge, but in cold temperatures, the number of shots you take in one charge can drop considerably—less 50-70% than you are used to. You can easily cheat the cold by keeping your spare batteries warm. Just keep the extra batteries in your inner pocket, and close to your body heat.
3. Don’t let your camera fog up
Shooting something in freezing temperatures is a challenge. When you are ready to warm up in any nearby indoor spot, be mindful of your camera. If you simply rush indoors with your camera, your lens will fog up immediately with all the built-up moisture. This will result in painful minutes of you waiting for the lens to defog (and possibly missing out on getting a great shot). To avoid this, place your camera in a photo bag with lens cover before you enter into any warm place.
4. Consider photo-friendly gloves
If you are shooting outside, you will most likely end up shooting in gloves. If you are like me and use regular gloves, you can find yourself frustrated by not being able to use all the dials and buttons because of the thickness of gloves. Most photo stores sell special photo gloves with thin thermal fabric around the fingertips, so that you can fully control your camera. These gloves also have a special fabric on the palms for a secure grip. Visit your local camera store, and give these gloves a try. They could save you from lots of hassle and frost bite.
Finish this article and learn six more tips over at 500px
Source: 500px
Image Source: Pexels
Wear underwear, too!