I. Equipment
Due to the low temperatures in winter, especially in snowy and icy environments, a camera’s mechanical systems may slow down due to congealed lubricants, leading to uncontrolled exposure. Additionally, battery-powered cameras can quickly lose power in the cold, rendering them unusable. Solution: Try to use purely mechanical, manual cameras, such as domestic brands like Seagull and Phoenix, or Japanese models like the Nikon FM2, or German models like the Leica R6.2 (the Leica R6.2 can maintain stable shutter speeds at minus 20 degrees Celsius). These cameras can still be used without power—at most, you won’t have light metering, but you can still shoot reliably if you know your settings. Of course, it’s best to also carry a handheld light meter. Most cameras today are automatic, so keep them as close to your body as possible. Use lithium batteries if possible instead of regular ones, as lithium batteries are much more resistant to the cold. When you’ve been outside for a long time and your camera is very cold, do not open the lens cap upon entering a warm room to avoid condensation.
When shooting snow scenes in winter, filters are essential, especially for color photography. The white snow under a blue sky reflects a lot of purple and blue light, which can greatly affect the film, causing serious blue casts that turn pure white snow into an almost bluish hue. Practical experience shows that using a Kodak Wratten 81B or 81A filter in front of the lens is effective—it prevents overly cool blue tones in color photos and improves overall color balance. For black-and-white photography, use a yellow No. 2 or green filter in front of the lens to enhance contrast, particularly between the snow and shadowed areas. Adding a polarizing filter can also help reduce reflections from certain objects on the snow and ice.
A tripod is also indispensable for winter photography. Because winter light is weaker, you can’t use high shutter speeds, and sometimes you need greater depth of field, requiring smaller apertures. Coupled with the use of filters and other factors, this further increases the needed exposure time. Without a tripod, camera shake from handholding can easily result in blurry images.
II. Shooting Techniques
Winter photography differs significantly from shooting in spring, summer, or fall. Winter light is softer and less intense, so you need to be careful to avoid underexposure. Normally, winter exposures should use one stop wider aperture than in spring or fall, two stops wider than in summer, or reduce shutter speed by one to two stops. When shooting snow scenes, be especially vigilant against underexposure.
Winter weather is cold, and the suitable lighting window for shooting is short—only about four or five hours. For landscape photography, you not only have to endure the bitter cold outdoors but also act quickly and seize the moment to avoid missing valuable photo opportunities. Especially in severe cold, temperatures can be so low that electronic and mechanical components of your camera malfunction, preventing the shutter from opening—leaving you unable to capture the beautiful scenery before you. Therefore, when heading out to shoot in the dead of winter, keep your camera inside your coat or down jacket until you’re ready to shoot. Don’t take it out until you are. When you do, quickly assess the light direction and composition, then swiftly and carefully pull it out to shoot. Handle the camera slowly and deliberately, and return it to your clothing immediately after shooting.