The Costco Connection - December 2018

Do’s and don’ts

DO

• Encourage your subjects to dress in brightly colored coats and hats. A pop of color from a red jacket or blue hat can give a scene the punch of color it needs.

• Use a long focal length (with the lens zoomed out) when you photograph falling snow.

The long lens will help make the falling flakes more obvious.

• Protect your gear from snow by using a camera weather cover or even a simple plastic bag.

• Zoom in on winter wildlife subjects like birds, deer, squirrels, etc. In these cases, the animal is the prime subject and the snowy background is simply the environment.

Make the animal the star by using it to fill the frame.

DON’T

• Stay out too long in the cold; take warm-up breaks as you need them.

• Be distracted by your camera while traversing wintery conditions.

• Change camera lenses while it’s snowing, as you might allow moisture to fall onto the camera’s internal electronics. Also be careful about loose snow on your clothing doing the same thing.—DJ

your exposure compensation to plus 1, or even plus 1. 5, which tells the camera to make the image lighter than what it thinks is correct. The result should be proper-looking snow. If the snow in your shot comes out too white, simply dial in a smaller exposure compensation, such as plus 0.5.

Cold-weather concerns

Cold temperatures can cause batteries to weaken and have shorter life spans.

You’ll likely discover your battery levels depleting much more quickly than they normally would—or your camera may simply refuse to turn on in the first place.

The solution? Keep the extra batteries under your coat until you need them.

Your own body heat should keep the spares at a functioning temperature until it’s time to use them. Swap the batteries as needed; you’ll discover that batteries that seemed to be “dead” were actually just cold, and after you warm them up under your coat they will be ready to function again.

Another problem can occur when
you go back inside. If a cold camera is
suddenly brought back into warm and
comparatively humid air, condensation
will quickly form all over its glass, plastic
and metal parts, similar to the way that
eyeglasses fog over under the same condi-
tions. One solution is to leave your gear
in a “midrange” location that isn’t too
cold or too warm, like a garage, until the
possibility of condensation has passed.

If that’s not an option, consider placing your camera in a resealable plastic bag before you bring it inside.

The plastic bag will prevent the moisture in the warm air from reaching your camera. Leave your gear in the bag until it has warmed up to room temperature.