Winter Protection for you Camera

The winter can be harsh on more than just our poor cold toes. It can be harsh on your digital camera too. That's not to say you should stay inside (although I HAVE taken some nice shots from an open living room window!) but when you do go out, keep some basic things in mind and you will get some great shots.

1. Keep your camera warm! This is the most important of all. A cold camera battery will either yield error messages or a camera that doesn't work at all. So if you have a point and shoot, keep in in a very warm pocket - like maybe the front pocket of your jeans. If you have a dslr that won't fit in a normal pocket - put the strap around your neck and zip your jacket up over top of it. Yes, it will look odd but it isn't a fashion show - you have to keep your camera very happy that way. And once you take your shot get the camera back to it's warm spot.

2. Protect the lens. It's never a good idea to breathe on the lens to clean it anyway, but you especially don't want to do that in the cold. Moisture is not a friend to any electronics.  Use a lens cloth or even an eyeglass cleaning cloth in a pinch.

3. Exposure. The snow will totally mess with your camera's sensor and it will want to make your snow gray. That is the meter. It is set to give you an average exposure so it wants to even out all that bright snow to be average. This means your snow will be gray and the darker things look black and have no detail. Fill the frame with a combination of the bright snow and the darker subject and focus, hold the shutter button and recompose and then shoot. You will be more satisfied with the results. If you have dslr...get it off auto (that is the T or A or P) Put it on manual, read your meter inside the camera, set your camera manually and even take a couple exposures.

4. When you camera is left in the car or someplace that it gets very cold. Bring it indoors. DO NOT REMOVE THE LENS CAP OR ATTEMPT TO TURN IT ON OR OPEN IT UP IN ANY WAY. The moisture is building up on the outside of the camera. Opening it up in any way will expose the inner-workings of the camera and the moisture will then be inside. Allow the camera several hours to come up to a warmer temperature. Don't attempt to use the camera either because you will risk damaging it, if it will even work (remember you also have a cold battery). You can't force a camera to get warm without damaging it.

Keep your camera protected and warm, learn how to adjust the exposures manually (or by tricking it) and you will have a blast getting the kids sledding or playing in the snow or those sunlit crystals on the branches.