Photo Safaris - Ultimate Snow



				John Shaw Nature & Digital Photography Workshops Click here for locations and dates
				Mexico's Colonial Heartland March 17–24, 2007
				Horses and Icons of the Wild West August 26–September 1, 2007
				Masai Mara Wildlife Reserve, Kenya September 7–21, 2007
				Australia Wildlife November 1–20, 2007

Winter. Ah, the joys of the season! Snowy scenes that remind us of Currier and Ives lithographs... The quiet solitude of snow-covered hills... Peaceful times in front of a roaring fireplace...

Right? Not for the nature photographer. Or at least not for the photographer who actually wants to go outside and photograph. Winter then presents a radically different face. The problems of cold temperatures and snowy conditions magnify all the difficulties we already encounter in field photography. For example, wouldn't you like to talk with the camera designer who specified those small buttons and dials that cannot be operated when one is wearing gloves or mittens? Or the person responsible for "easy loading" 120 film leaders? Or whoever thought of that little latch on flash card covers?

	It was minus 25 degrees when I took this photograph. Thanks to my Cabela's boots I kept warm and kept working.

There's been a lot of good advice written about winter photography (read Wayne Lynch's Frozen Fotos in the archived articles section) and I've discussed exposure problems when dealing with white subjects (see Exposing White Right in the archives). Id like to cover three additional issues:

Staying mobile in deep snow
Using a tripod in cold temperatures and deep snow
Keeping your feet warm and dry when you're not moving around

MOBILITY

If you're working in just a few inches of snow you should have no problem moving around. Just trudge through it and take your pictures. But I live in Colorado where several feet of powdery snow are rather normal. What to do? Unless you want to spend great amounts of energy and time wallowing through the snow in order to move just a short distance, I would suggest buying some snowshoes. I've tried using cross-country skis for deep snow photography with little success. Perhaps it's just me, but trying to maneuver those long boards around tripod legs and small bushes or on icy surfaces just doesn't seem to work well. But, if you can walk, you can use snowshoes.

	Crater Lake is a great winter photo location, but the snow was about 12 feet deep when I was there. Without snowshoes you're basically restricted to photographing from the road.

I would recommend the high-tech versionsthe ones made from aluminum tubing and neoprenerather than the traditional wood and leather models. Sure, those traditional shoes look great but I'm more interested in practical results with low maintenance. I've got enough to do without adding snowshoe care; with the newer models you just shake off the snow, toss the shoes in your vehicle, and that's that. When you purchase snowshoes make sure you explain to the salesperson how you want to use them. There are many models available now for "winter running" or "emergency backcountry" use. Don't buy those styles. Instead get a pair made for mountaineering, ones with a large surface area that will support your body weight plus camera gear. Be sure there is a sharp-pronged metal tab under the foot area for traction on icy surfaces. And a serious hint: practice fastening the harness system at home, before you're standing out in the cold.

	Gitzo tripod leg lock: Position this tab so that it is not against its stop when shoving the tripod into deep snow.

TRIPODS

If you're using a metal tripod in winter, it will act like a heat sink, rapidly taking the warmth from your hands. Many photographers cover the topmost tripod leg sections with foam pipe insulation, available at any hardware or building supply store. Doing so adds some bulk to the tripod, but also acts as padding when you're carrying the tripod over your shoulder. If all you want to do is protect your hands, you could wrap your tripod with bicycle handlebar tape. This protects your hands while giving a non-slip surface. Jack Dykinga suggests old bicycle inner tubes as a solution. Cut the inner tube to length and remove the lower leg sections of the tripod so you have access to only the top leg section. Apply a thin layer of hair spay for lubrication and slide the inner tube over the leg. When the hair spray dries it acts as an adhesive. Once the inner tube sections are in place, sponge the exterior down with water to remove any excess hair spray. FYI, carbon fiber tripods are not nearly as cold to handle as are metal ones.

When you shove a tripod down into deep snow two things happen. The legs try to spread even further apart due to the resistance of the snow, and the tripod loses much of its height as the legs sink into the snow. Solving the first problem is mandatory if you're using a Gitzo or Bogen tripod.

	Here are the parts needed to make tripod snowshoes, and here is one mounted on my tripod.

If you leave the leg spreading locks against their stops while pushing the tripod down into the drifts, the resulting spreading action can easily crack the top casting of the tripod, the piece to which all the legs attach. I've seen this happen to clients on several winter trips. A solution is simple: before you set the tripod down don't spread the legs out so far that the leg spreading locks hit their stops. In other words, don't erect the tripod as if there is no snow. Keep the legs slightly together before placing the tripod in the snow and keep the leg locks loose.

To keep your tripod from sinking out of sight make snowshoes for it. You can purchase tripod shoes from Bogen, but making your own is simple and cheap.

Go to your local home improvement store and purchase the following:

three crutch tips in a size large enough to slide over your tripod feet
3 1/4 - 20 one-inch long bolts, the nuts for them, plus six flat washers that fit the bolts
three flat plastic test caps (look in the plastic pipe section)mine are for 4-inch pipe and cost all of 25 cents each

To assemble: drill a hole through the center of the bottom of each crutch tip and through the middle of each plastic test cap. Take a bolt, add a washer, thread it through the test cap, add a second washer and a nut and tighten. That's all there is to making tripod snowshoes. To use, just shove one over each tripod foot.

	My winter boots.

Just as you will still sink a little into the snow when you're wearing snowshoes, your tripod will also. But it won't go out of sight in powder snow as it would otherwise.

KEEPING YOUR FEET WARM

This is an easy one: buy good boots, and keep your feet dry. Some of the best winter boots are those with removable inner liner pacs made of felt or newer space-age foam. The old standby boot is the rubber bottom, leather top pac boot. If you get this style, also wear gaiters to keep snow from working into the boot from the top. Melting snow equals wet feet equals cold feet.

Here's a plug for the warmest, most comfortable boot I've ever used. Cabela's (www.cabelas.com) sells the Trans-Alaska III Pac Boot (item number 83-0191), temperature rated to minus 135 degrees F. I have no idea if that rating is correct as there is absolutely no way

I'm going to be outside at minus 135. But I can say that my feet have never been cold in winter since I bought these boots. So long as my feet are warm, I can handle staying outside to photograph.

Regardless of the style of boot, if it uses pac liners be sure to pull these out every night so they can dry, otherwise your perspiration will eventually cut down the effectiveness of the insulation and you'll have cold feet.

Buy good boots and quality snowshoes, be careful with your tripod...and you'll not be intimidated by those falling temperatures. Winter actually can be fun to photograph.



	Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, Inc. P.O. Box 655, Vashon Island, Washington USA 98070 Phone: (206) 463-5383 Fax: (206) 463-5484 Email: info@photosafaris.com Copyright © 2008, Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, Inc.