Winter is coming and while I’m drinking a nice glass of port at home right now, tomorrow I’ll go out. And it will be cold. Hopefully not as cold as in the featured image, taken on frozen Öresund in February this year. Yes, the actual sea was frozen for miles.

Anyway, here’s a short reminder of useful things when you shoot outdoors in the winter:

2 pairs of gloves

maybe you’re ok with one. I’m not. gloves, good shoes and keeping your body warm are most important, else you won’t be out for long. especially gloves. I’m actually thinking to buy a pair of photography gloves. they open on the tip of the thumb and index. if any of you reading this has a pair, would you recommend them?

a plastic bag

if you’re out in the freezing cold and then go in to warm up in a building somewhere, condensation happens. your lens get foggy and good luck waiting for them to clear up! however, if you put your camera in a tightly closed plastic bag prior to going in, the condensation will mostly happen on the bag. the less air around the camera the better

extra battery

batteries tend to die quickly in the cold. have an extra one and keep it in a warm pocket

if any snow, use it

if it’s snowing you’ll be busy trying to keep your gear dry. however, don’t miss the opportunity to use the snowflakes in your photos. using a shallow depth of field will get you very pleasant-looking blurred snowflakes around your subject