Preparation is the key when shooting in the Arctic or on any cold winters day for that matter. There are a few things that you as the photography should really take the time to accomplish or at the very least consider before venturing out to get that shot of  a perfect snow covered field.  Clothing, Equipment, Exposure, Lighting, and Attitude

Clothing

Clothing  should always be the first thing that crosses your mind when you’re considering a bit of winter shooting. Even if it doesn’t feel especially cold, if you can see your breath you need to dress for the winter. Remember the bulkier the clothing the harder it will be to move and react to your photographic opportunities.

When I’m dressing for a shoot in Canada’s High Arctic, you would be surprised to know even in -30c I still won’t wear my heavy parka when heading out on a winter shoot. I will wear many, many different layers keeping my mobility, while still remaining quite warm. I find that if I get to warm I can strip off a layer or two before I sweat. 

With cold weather, condensation is enemy number one with your body and equipment.

Even with a warm core I always find once my hands and feet get cold the rest of my body isn’t all that far behind. As for feet I overkill slightly with sorrel boots and a pair of battery powered socks I got from Marks work Warehouse. I only wear one pair of socks as many socks seem to make a tight fit which tends to make my feet colder. But for you this might differ, just make sure that you don’t go running around in just cross-trainers. Hands and fingers are altogether different…Most Professional photographers I have spoke with have almost all agreed with me on this next point. Get yourself two pairs of hand covers. Your outer layer should be a warm mitt, and your inner layer should be a tight fitting wool or fleece glove. The mitt is there for warmth and the glove is so you can take your hands out and snap a picture and play with dials without the worry of your fingers freezing. Some have said that the carry chemical handwarmers with them. I myself have never used them while on a shoot and have never been in a situation where I wanted them.

Clothing for camera and Lens?

I have heard rather recently that some people have been attaching Chemical hand warmers to their cameras on the battery pack or where ever with elastic bands to keep them warm. I do not! The reasoning to do this doesn’t make sense to me. THE COLD DOES NOT HURT YOUR CAMERA. It may drain your batteries faster, and give you a sluggish LCD display, but that’s it. The issue is the condensation that your camera gets when changing climates (i.e warm room to cold outside). Attaching hand warmers to the camera would cause a greater temperature difference would it not?.  Hot batteries, and a cold lens would create a fog on the camera lens and even worse on the little electronic parts inside. My answer to that question is quite simple. I have been in some seriously cold places, with temperatures well below -50c after wind chill and have never ever had any such thing strapped to my camera, and never will. You’re welcome to try it at your own risk.

I will go out side with my camera inside of my coat, there it cools slowly as I walk or snowmobile to my location. The other method I know of is to seal the camera in a plastic bag indoors with some ambient warm air trapped in the bag. Then place your camera outside in the cool air.  This will in turn cause the camera to cool slower and the possibility of condensation will form on the bag instead of the camera. Either method will work fine. Remember once the camera has cooled down keep it cold until you’re done.

Don’t put it into your jacket, or go inside with it until your 100% sure you have completed your day of shooting. Even a warm car will cause you problems. When you have decided to sit back in your nice warm house there are some very important steps you must take at this time.  Take your memory card out and place it in your pocket, while you’re still outside.  Then make sure you have a zip lock bag with you (if you use the second method I mentioned then you can use that same bag).  Then simply put your camera in the bag, make sure it is turned of, seal up the bag, and bring the camera with you  inside. This will stop the condensation from forming on your camera body and lens. Thus stopping and liquid to form on your camera circuits, also this will save your camera sensory from having random dust particles “glued” to your sensor. Once in the bag, and you and the camera are warming up you can deal with the images on your memory card. But keep in mind once you have started the re- acclimatization you must not take the camera back outside until it has made it back to room temperature.

Another trick that I use is that I will almost always have a circular polarizer on my lens to help with the shadows a bit. Also I will sometimes attach graduated Neutral density filter.

It never hurts to bring along some extra batteries, and keep the spares in a warm place like your inner pants pocket.

The only other equipment tip is to get yourself some pipe insulation and put it on the legs of your tripod. This will keep you from having to handle bare metal legs and work as insulation between the tripod legs and your hands. Plus it makes it way more comfortable if you carry your tripod over your shoulder.

Exposure 

All light meters can give you an incorrect reading for snow and snow covered scenes.    If you were to shoot a scene that has a mix of dark and light elements in it. Your light meter inside of your camera may read it correctly, creating the proper exposure. But if the scene is all snow, the exposure will be underexposed significantly.

The solution is to use the exposure compensation feature of your camera or EV+/- and over expose by 1/3 up to 2 full stops. You will have to play a bit to find the correct exposure for your scene. The other option is to set the camera to bracket fire a set of different exposure settings (if you don’t know how to bracket fire check your camera’s manual). Lastly simply check your histogram to make sure the highlights didn’t blow out.

Attitude 

 If you are outside and you’re thinking that it is cold and miserable. Dreaming about being warm sitting in front of a fire basking in heat, your photographs will echo that attitude. While outside in a winter wonderland you must remain excited about your surroundings. Try to stay positive and think warm comfortable thoughts and your photographs will be better for it. When you have come to the point that you can’t keep your mind off the cold and your attitude has plummeted go inside and sit in front of that warm fire, and plan your next shoot.