CIRCUMSTANCES DICTATE
Modern camera technology lets you photograph in practically any weather. Just make sure you are prepared for all circumstances.
Freezing Cold (Markus)
My experience is that photographing in temperatures below –30°C (–22°F) is amazingly similar to photographing in more normal conditions. The only real drawback is that the camera battery life depletes dramatically, but that problem is easy to solve by taking spare batteries along. You should keep them under the many layers of clothing you are wearing, as close to your skin as possible, so they stay warm.
I was photographing a Eurasian Pygmy-Owl on a winter’s day, when it was –37°C (–35°F). My Canon EOS-1D Mark IV battery lasted 50 minutes, after which I replaced it with a warm battery and put the cold battery in a pocket inside my clothes. After the next 50 minutes I swapped the batteries again. The first one had regained its power inside the warmth of my clothing. The cold does not make batteries discharge; instead, the cold makes them sluggish and weakens their capacity to release power to the camera. After they warm up, they work again.
Cold affects tripods, too. In extreme cold, especially, video heads become stiff. My Manfrotto 501 video head, for example, is useless for flight shots in temperatures below –25°C (–13°F). It is okay for still subjects even at –37°C (–35°F), but its performance is noticeably slower. A Wimberley gimbal works better than a video head in extreme cold (read more in the chapter “Bird Photographer’s Tripods”).
You should change lenses in the same temperature that you will be photographing in. If, for instance, you were to get into a warm car to change the lens, the difference between the temperatures would cause your camera and lens to fog up. When you change the lens outside, make sure no snow gets in your equipment. Remember that even if it’s not snowing, wind may blow snow from the trees or snowbanks.
When you take your equipment outside and then bring it back in, and if the temperature outside is much colder than the air inside, keep the equipment in your camera bag so the temperature changes gradually. This helps prevent condensation inside the lenses.
If you’re photographing from a heated blind in the winter and it’s very cold outside, place your lens through the lens openings and firmly tighten the pouches around it before you turn the heater on. And don’t change the lens at any time throughout the day, because it will instantly fog up.
A Eurasian Pygmy-Owl is on the lookout for prey in extreme cold weather (Glaucidium passerinum)
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 800mm f/5.6 plus 1.4x extender, 1/50 second, f/13.0, ISO 1000, one-shot focus with a central focusing point, mirror lockup and 2 second self-timer, Gitzo tripod, Manfrotto 501 video head. Kuusamo, Finland, January 2010.
Last, but definitely not least, do not underestimate the need for warm clothing and footwear. Photography often means staying put for long periods of time, which heightens the risk of frostbite. When you have the proper gear to stay warm, you can concentrate on the main task.
Dust (Markus)
Dust is rarely a big problem in Europe. Granted, during normal use, dust accumulates on a digital camera’s sensor, but modern cameras have automatic dust removal systems that can take care of the problem. Some dust particles are more persistent, and the camera has to be cleaned professionally. I take my cameras to a service center about twice a year to get properly cleaned.
Obviously you could have problems with dust in Europe, for instance if you change lenses in windy weather anywhere near fine sand. You might get so much sand on the sensor that the camera’s automatic dust removal system cannot remove it.
But in many other places around the world, dust is a real problem. To fight sand and dust whenever you’re not using your camera, or while you’re moving from one place to another, keep your equipment in a sealed pouch that won’t let dust inside. Over any length of time, the extremely fine dust can collect inside your camera and lenses and do serious damage. The best professional cameras and lenses fare better in the fight against dust and humidity than more economical models.
My own experiences in seriously dusty areas are limited to the sand plains in Morocco and in Oman. There is always a lot of dust in the air when it is windy, and it’s definitely smart to avoid changing lenses anywhere except inside, such as in a car.
Humidity (Bence)
High humidity is not only a strain on the photographer, it’s hard on the equipment, too, for several reasons. Most camera manuals say that the operating humidity is a maximum of 80 percent, even though manufacturers know their cameras work even in higher humidity. The risks for malfunction or damage grow, though; humidity can spell trouble just like rain or extreme cold.
The temperature is significant when weighing the risks of humidity because relative humidity is not the whole truth. The warmer the air, the more water it can hold, and increased humidity causes decreased sharpness in the image.
Dry silica gel
In Europe humidity has caused me the most trouble when photographing birds at night in starlight; with the temperature at around 10°C (50°F), my equipment was wet with dew. I used a small electric fan to keep the lens dry so I could keep photographing.
But when I was photographing in Costa Rica, my troubles were not so easily solved. In the tropics, the temperature stayed at 25°C (77°F), but rain and sunshine alternated about once an hour. I quickly realized that it would not be as easy to get sharp images with long lenses from a low angle, as was the case at home in Hungary during the summer. How could I get a distant subject in sharp focus when the heat haze was clear to the naked eye and the humidity was so thick you could have leaned against it?
I started photographing closer to my subjects, at a higher camera angle and with a 300mm f/4.0 lens instead of an f/2.8 lens, because its outer lens diameter is smaller.
It rained regularly, but silica gel helped keep my gear dry. Silica gel absorbs moisture, and when it has reached full capacity it changes color, telling you that it is time to swap it with dry silica gel. You can dry the wet gel in an oven—about 120°C (250°F) for about two hours—and then reuse it. Pack your equipment and the gel into an airtight bag, such as plastic bags with zipper locks, and your gear dries nicely.
A wooden box for the camera gear with a light bulb inside to ward off moisture
I stayed in Costa Rica for several months. In the beginning I diligently packed my gear in airtight bags with silica gel, but eventually I grew tired of the constant packing and repacking, so I gave up. As a consequence, my equipment started to develop fungus, even deep inside some of the lenses. This natural-made filter made my images so opalescent that I could not stop down more than f/8.0.
I tried unscrewing and opening the lenses to clean them, but without the right tools it was a waste of time. I needed to find a solution fast because I couldn’t let the problem escalate any further. So I built a wooden box and placed a regular light bulb inside it, which I left on all the time so it would produce enough heat to keep the box nice and dry.
This solution served me for the rest of my time in Costa Rica, but if your stay is shorter than two weeks, silica gel is an ideal solution. Your equipment will probably be okay without any protection if you stay for less than a week.