“Capturing Alaska”
    with Wayde Carroll






Winter Tips


 
   
    Alaska is painfully beautiful at any time of year and the urge to get out my camera can strike at any time, but there is something magical about the winter. Once the temperatures drop and the snow takes hold for the season, everything about the land transforms. Not only is it dressed in form-fitting whiteness but it is quiet, slow. Creeks, rivers, and falls are still, except for possibly a faint trickling heard far below their frozen crusts. The animals out and about are fewer. One can easily escape to areas where no one has seemed to tread, at least not since the last snowfall.
    Alaska becomes the stereotype that forms in the minds of those who have never been here. White, jagged, mountain ranges. A steamy exhalation from a bull moose in the yard. Ice forming on the face of any who brave any form of physical activity outside.
    Unique weather phenomena are plentiful as well. On the same day you can wake up to a magical world covered in hoarfrost, encounter several sundogs, and witness a full display of the Aurora Borealis! A photographer’s paradise indeed!
    That said, winter also holds many challenges for the photographer. With the season almost upon us, I thought I’d throw out some tips I’ve learned through experience and fellow photographers.
    Most guidebooks tell you to always travel with a “buddy” just in case an emergency situation arises. This is great advice and should be heeded whenever possible but it can be difficult to find someone to hang out with every time you want to take photos. So, what I do is the following:
- Always you make sure you tell someone where you are going and when you’ll return.
- Pack the car with all items necessary to survive an overnight in sub-zero temperatures. If you head out for the day thinking you’ll be back for dinner and your battery dies, or a storm sets in…This includes extra dry clothes, fire starter, sub-zero rated sleeping bag, cell phone, extra food, water, stove, etc.. There are several books that give detailed lists for winter travel, weather it be backcountry skiing or just sticking to the roadway. It’s better to be over prepared than not.
Here are some tips for photographing in the cold:
- I have covered my tripod legs with foam PVC tube lining to keep my hands from contacting the freezing aluminum.
- I wear a heavy-duty winter glove when scouting around but have a thin glove on underneath. When it comes time to fiddle with my camera and lenses I take off the heavy gloves and can maneuver without fear of sticking to my camera.
- I always bring hand and feet warming packets just in case.
- I wear the recommended layers of clothing so I can cool off or heat up as I need. Nothing is worse than being wet from sweat and then having your clothes freeze up when you’re stationary.
- I bring several charged battery packs. I keep the unused packs next to my body to keep them warm and interchange them with the in-camera batteries that inevitably lose power in temps around zero and below.
- I have a waterproof camera cover I carry in case of precipitation.
- Once your camera is exposed to the cold it’s best to keep it out. If you jump in to a warm car to move to your next location it is good to place your camera into a zip-lock bag so that the condensation builds up on the outside of the bag instead of on your camera and its’ sensitive components. In a pinch I’ve wrapped up my camera in my coat with no problems-so far.
- I like to wear my contact lenses instead of my glasses in winter because my breath always seems to fog up the glasses as I’m trying to compose in the viewfinder!
- I keep my water in an inside layer as well to prevent freezing.
- Because there I’m surrounded by so much whiteness I keep a close eye on my exposure and histogram. Typically it is good to open up-or over expose- your scene by one to one and a half stops. Because your camera meter is trying to make everything a middle grey tone this ensures your whites will be white.
- Most importantly, never go too far out of your comfort zone. If a situation seems too tricky or dangerous, it probably is. Don’t do it. Don’t cross that river unless you know it’s frozen solid.
- I always check the U.S. forest service web site (http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/chugach/glacier/advisory.html ) to see if there are any avalanche probability updates in the area I’m heading to.
- I always bring along a thermos full of Java!
I hope this helps out. Have a great time capturing images this winter. Be prepared and be safe.