Wintertime is Playtime
Jack McConnell
February 2008
Wintertime is playtime: TIPS for cold weather shooting
By Jack McConnell
I grew up in the White Mountains in northern New Hampshire, and worked for four years at the weather station on top of Mt. Washington, which enjoys some of the world’s worst weather and record-breaking cold, biting winds. Trekking up to my post in the wintertime, I’d hike in front of the Snow Cat to mark the road and keep the Cat from tumbling down the mountainside.
In late winter I’d listen to the cracking and groaning of the Androscoggin and Pemigewasset Rivers as ice jams blocked the water flow. Finally a certain release point would occur, sometimes forcing ice to be heaved from the river in gigantic monolithic blocks the size of refrigerators, strewn like ghostly hay bales to rot in the sun and eventually dissolve on a farmer’s field, sometimes as late as June or July.
I’ve always enjoyed going out with my camera at dawn just after fresh snow has fallen, or late in the day when afternoon gloom seeps into the frame, even after moving to Connecticut in the mid-sixties. Heading out at the tail end of a storm, while the snow is sticky and clinging to the trees, almost always works. Everywhere I look, there’s another picture. I’m like a giddy kid in a candy store. Trees that are ordinarily just dark mass with no character, suddenly become art, as blown snow sticks to one side of a tree in counterpoint to the thin line of dark trunk on the other side, making farms and forest graphic, dimensional, and beautiful.
Winter scenes are monochromatic in nature, which is a restful relief after the autumn hysteria of colors, particularly in New England with its dramatic color palette. In winter, even though I’m shooting with color film, I can really concentrate on composition, as I can when I’m shooting B&W.
Photography forces me to pay close attention—to the people around me, to the lights and darks, and the tones in between. When one f-stop can make all the difference, when one tiny puff of wind can set your tripod wobbling, you’d better stay focused and become “all eyes.”
It’s the little things in life that trip you up, and in cold weather shooting, you’re even more on the edge . . .
Exposure: The first problem people have when shooting in snow conditions is getting the exposure right. Their tendency is to over-expose the scene, forgetting that the in-camera meter wants to see everything as 18% medium gray. Depending on what percentage of the scene is white snow, you have to open up 1 stop, or even more.
Approaching the scene: Be careful not to contaminate your scene with footprints as you make your decision about where to set up to shoot. If you’re in slippery conditions, consider using ice creepers over your shoes to give you a better grip. These are available in sports shops like Eastern Mountain Sports.
Keep hands warm by using a pair of winter golf gloves, which will protect your hands from direct contact with cold metal. They are slightly sticky feeling on the surface, so your equipment won’t slip out of your grasp. Put hand warmers in your pockets and put your gloved hands in there at every opportunity, and you’ll do just fine. Bare hands get too cold, mittens and winter driving gloves are bulky and awkward to use. Gloves with finger tips removed are useful, but hands can become very cold. Put foot warmers in your boots, outside of your socks. Always wear a hat, because you lose a lot of heat through your head. Dress in moisture-wicking layers as you are likely to have a few minutes of exertions, followed by a period of waiting around for conditions to change.
Use a tripod: 95 percent of the time I take the time to set up a tripod to insure sharpness. A carbon-fiber tripod is expensive, but doesn’t conduct cold as much as aluminum does. I use a wood tripod, but if you’re using aluminum try wrapping plumbing pipe insulation around the legs to reduce hand contact with cold metal.
Condensation: The worst thing you can do in extreme cold conditions is accidentally breathe on your viewfinder or lenses as you’re leaning over your camera to set your f-stops and shutter speeds. This can cause condensation, and even permanent damage. Likewise, if you’ve put your camera under your jacket to protect from falling snow, you can cause condensation when you bring it back out into the cold air. At the end of the day, I put my cameras and lenses back into the camera bag, close it up, and let it warm up slowly for several hours inside the house, before I take the camera out. Otherwise put your gear in large plastic bags while still out in the cold before bringing into the warm house, so condensation forms on the bags rather than your cameras.
Filters and film: I often filter my scenes, particularly with a polarizer to enhance color and contrast, or a warming or cooling filter to enhance the mood I’m trying to convey. I use Fujichrome film in 6x7, 6x8, 6x12 and 4x5 formats because I like the way it reproduces color. I like its contrast and incredible sharpness. I don’t accept the actual color of a scene. If you’re using digital, remember to bring extra batteries,as they slow down in cold conditions. Where possible, use lithium rather than alkaline, for longer lasting use.
 Composition: I don’t particularly follow the historical “rules of composition”. If I do it in a composition, it’s generally by accident. I try to shoot a lot. The more I shoot the better I get, even after all these years. I like close-ups and details. Hard to find, but worth the effort. I look for contrasts—big vs. small, light vs. dark, warm colors vs. cool, hard against soft. Barns, fences, trees, a group of people provide contrast to the snow.
Reality is only a starting point, a spot on the dial, a dot on a map.
Through the years, I’ve learned to follow my instincts, to let myself go. When I see something that catches my eye, I try not to edit myself. I choose where to go from there. This is playtime, and I need this time badly to counteract all the hard, disciplined work I do for my corporate clients. It keeps my eyes happy. Gives them a reward for all the precise seeing I force them to do.
Wintertime is playtime. Make the best of your escape. It only lasts a little while.
Jack McConnell has a seven-page spread of his Winter photographs in the current Winter issue of Connecticut Home & Garden magazine.
All images copyright Jack McConnell
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