I love driving in the snow. Yeah, I know that most people freak out, but I’ve always been calm and cool when driving in winter conditions, even extreme. I know what I’m doing and I have total confidence in my abilities. What I don’t have confidence in are the other people.
I was thrilled when the snow started coming down in waves of great flakes on our last day at Breitenbush Hot Springs. It feel on our warm faces and into the waters of the meadow hot pools. You could see the snowflake as it sank and melted into the water. It was beautiful and amazing, and cold.
Brent wanted to leave early but I reminded him that it is always safer to drive on compact snow rather than slushy stuff. We had lunch and then headed out.
The trees bent down over the road with the weight of the snow accumulated over the past few days, creating a tunnel of white and shades of gray.
Love it. What a great way to leave our peaceful retreat and re-enter the world.
Weather affects the nature photographer and travler by either offering dramatic weather situations and light to photograph in, or by hampering the excursion. Either way, you need to get out in the weather if outdoor and nature photography is your passion.
You are standing out in the freezing cold, looking for that award-winning snow scenic, but what do you do with all that white? We can understand protecting ourselves from the cold, but how about protecting our exposure from the elements?
accord. Each film “pushes” a particular color that can affect the color white. Fuji’s Velvia film can often make snow pink or almost violet in coloration. Agfa and Scotch films give a greenish blue hint to snow. Kodak’s Ektachrome paints blue tinted snow. Film is changing and evolving all the time so if you are serious about your winter whites, study how each film responds to the “color” white to get the best results.
Imagine a scene of pristine snow over the ground and a lovely tree all covered with the white stuff. Using the averaging method typical of your camera’s meter, it will average the bright white snow down to gray snow. The whiteness is too bright so the camera compensates by recommending a “darker” exposure. Mary Ellen Schultz, a renowned nature photographer who specialized in close-up photography, had a wonderful phrase for figuring proper exposure: Add light to light, add dark to dark. By adding light, or overexposing a bit, you make what is light lighter. Try it. Take a picture at your meter’s reading of a snowy scene and then another with a third or half stop over-exposed and even another with one stop over-exposed. See which one you like better (best done with slide film).
If you are photographing only the tree in the picture, the dark wet bark against the bright white snow will turn black if you meter off the snow. Meter off the bark and follow the chart by adding dark to dark to keep the tree back dark.
Try this technique on other things besides snow. How do you expose for a light yellow flower or a dark red rose? At your meter reading or do you need to adjust it?Slide film has a very limited range of tones, from black to white, about five stops from washed out white to solid black. The chart shows the difference in the range from light to dark and how this works.
Snow. Ice. Zero temperatures. Wind chill. Runny noses. Frozen toes. Hats. Goggles. Gloves. Boots….just the thought of going outside in the frigid weather can halt all initiative. Face it, it’s freezin’ butt cold and the last thing you want to do is go outside and stand still for hours taking pictures of cold stuff. Yet winter offers a wonderful variety of opportunities for photographers.
Keeping yourself warm is often thought of as an easy thing to do: just trot down to the local outdoor outfitter and buy the latest in cold weather gear. It’s not quite that easy, though it can be expensive. What you choose to wear should depend on what you will be doing. Ask yourself the following questions:
Polypropylene and the newer fabrics for long underwear are great for pulling the moisture away from the skin and still keeping the heat in. If you will be panting, there are few things more painful than sucking ice cold air into hot lungs. A face mask or scarf wrapped across the nose and mouth will protect the lungs from the frozen sting.
Another problem in the cold weather battle is keeping your camera functioning and protected from the cold. As modern cameras become more dependent upon batteries, the battle against freezing temperatures intensifies. Nothing can stop a battery faster than the cold.
Batteries work best when warm and don’t work long in extreme cold. New batteries on the market, last longer in normal use. None last forever in cold temperatures, but some do last longer than alkaline. It depends upon how much power your camera requires to function. Some cameras with autofocus and computerized functions often require more power than the old manual cameras. With cold temperatures batteries lose power fast and a battery hungry camera will stop working quickly.
Condensation is a serious cold weather problem. As you move from the cold to the warmth of inside, condensation forms on eyeglasses, coats, and camera equipment. If you go right back outside, the water droplets can freeze and be potentially damaging. To protect the camera and lens, wrap it in a plastic bag and squeeze as much air out as possible before moving between temperature changes. The condensation will form on the outside of the bag and not inside. Wait until the camera reaches the inside temperature before removing from the bag.
film from extreme cold. Ice fishermen use ice chests in winter to keep beer from freezing, and it works for photographers – without the beer.
A waterproof camera bag is a great help, but not if it hangs open waiting for the wet to fall inside. Keep the lid closed, even if it’s not sealed, to keep it dry. The waterproof is on the outside not inside. Even if the outside is waterproof, avoid leaving the camera bag sitting in the snow.
Camera and film purchases soar during the summer months. People take more pictures during the summer, especially on vacation, than at any other time except Christmas. Examine their photos and see people standing in front of national monuments and tourist locales squinting back at the camera.
The differences in colors, tone, quality, and emotion of a photograph are controlled by light. These two images were taken moments apart as the sun was setting. What are the differences in emotional quality and intensity? Which do you prefer? Waiting for the light makes all the difference between a good picture and a great picture.
Getting up early isn’t easy for most people. What makes this more challenging for nature photographers is that we want to BE at the location when dawn comes. Often, this means getting up at 3 or 4 in the morning.
The midday sun shining directly down upon the forest creates harsh shadows, often disguising the wildlife resting in the forest. When a cloud comes by, the animals are suddenly revealed. Sometimes you can wait for a passing cloud to come by and improve the quality of your wildlife images on a bright and sunny day.
This is the best time of the day for photographers, and the busiest. The setting sun creates a wide range of tones and colors from soft to intense, creating ever changing magical light on your subjects. It is also the end of the day shift for animals and beginning of the night shift for the rest. While the crowds are at dinner or staring off into the sunset holding hands, get out your camera and start to work on the warm colors bouncing off everything.
Summer brings many challenges for the photographer, the worst being the battle for space in the popular tourist spots. It’s not just the battle for a place to set up a tripod, it is a fight to get THE SHOT without eight million people in the foreground, in your way, bumping you, or asking you insightful questions like “Are you a professional photographer?” while the moment and light are passing you by.
Nature photographers know the best time for photography is very early in the morning and late in the evening, both times when most sensible people are either still in bed or having dinner. Photographing at these times keeps you clear of the masses, unless it is sunset time from somewhere spectacular for sunset watching. In that case, look around for another place to capture the same sunset, or use the light to photograph what people are ignoring. Late afternoon and sunset light casts wonderful warm colors on mammals and birds, as well as trees, rocks and flowers. While everyone is staring at the setting sun, turn around and work away from them.
With the camera pointed anywhere in the vicinity of the sun, the chance for sun flare increases. Sun flare are created as the sun travels through the barrel of the lens and bounces around between the layers of glass. Where it “bounces” the most, it leaves a bright spot on the film. Zoom lenses are notorious for sun flares. Some flares can be interesting shapes and colors depending upon the shape of the aperture of the lens and the colors of the protective coating on the front element. Usually they are a distraction and nuisance.
Sun wears down almost everything manmade when exposed over long periods of time. Substances most intolerant to excessive sun exposure include rubber and cloth. Rubber lens hoods and rubber viewfinder eye pieces may dry out and crumble over time. Cloth will bleach and disintegrate. Camera bags and packs will discolor. Newer fabrics such as 1000 denier Cordura Plus hold up extremely well under such tortures, but they will fade out under long-term exposure.
Our own human bodies need to be protected from the sun as well, but the chemicals in sun lotion and bug sprays can damage cameras and lenses. Even if your hands are clean, sun lotion on your face smears along the back of the camera as you look through the viewfinder. While changing rolls of film, you may touch greasy fingers to the film plate or anywhere inside the camera causing damage to the camera’s innards and the film. The chemicals will eat away at the protective coating on your lens front element and dissolve polycarbonate camera bodies. You may end up with your fingerprints permanently impressed on the camera grip, as happened to me.
When you get ready for your next great traveling adventure, no matter how hard you research and plan, remember that the weather almost never cooperates. It will either be sunny when you want it cloudy, or vise versa. In nature photography weather opens the door to creativity and endless possibilities.
At Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park (Washington State) the weather can change in minutes. On top of the ridge, we got caught in one of those nastier changes. Abandoning the top, we headed down to the campground. Upon arrival there, the weather lifted. Brent caught a ray of sun coming through the clouds illuminating the dense forest. The moment lasted only a few minutes but Brent was able to get a couple of pictures before it was gone.
Planning involves preparation and scheduling. Many calendars list the different phases of the moon and tide charts. If photographing sunrise and sunsets, tide pools or shore birds, these kinds of calendars are critical information. Calendars are planning tools for scheduling when you need to be at a specific spot for the light to happen.
Learn about “consistent” weather patterns in the area you are exploring. Florida is typically clear, humid, and warm year around, though in winter a sudden downpour can catch you off guard. Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park, Washington, is well known for constantly changing weather; one minute sun and the next rain. Once you learn about the consistent weather patterns, you can plan your photography around it.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion…but when the rain starts pouring, even the bravest of photographers runs and hides. Nothing can be more miserable than working in the rain. Or so we let everyone think! 
so hard, there’s no seeing past the end of your lens. When it lets up, the possibilities are endless.
capture reflections with unusual perspectives. Many plants are designed to hold water on their leaves or petals, creating interesting textures. Look around and see the possibilities in the little jewel drops of rain left after a shower.
Reflections are fun to work with as they can become mirrors for your subjects or blurs of dancing colors. Look for interesting ways to capture reflections of different things from different perspectives.
When working in the rain, the main challenge is to keep dry. Some cameras quit working when they get damp, while the intense cold shuts down the batteries of most cameras very quickly. Condensation forms not only inside the camera but on the insides of the lenses. There have been many cases of mold and fungus growing inside lenses. A few precautions can keep you singing in the rain.
There are many commercial rain hoods to fit over your camera, or you can make your own. You don’t have to get fancy. We’ve used everything, including big trash bags held on with rubber bands or duct tape.
They keep your equipment protected from the rain and the elastic holds them in place. They work fine for the times between shots when you need maximum protection.