Not all of us are lucky enough to live in a tropical paradise and winter brings with it the challenge of shooting in cold conditions. More specifically, going from the dry warmth inside to the sometimes frigged temperatures outside and then back in again can give your camera fits.

The most important consideration is condensation. Bringing a cold camera into a warm, moist environment will cause water in the air to condense on your expensive camera equipment and it will not make an improvement.

One facet of cold weather shooting is protecting your camera from rapid temperature changes in either direction. The easiest way to do that, is to seal your camera in a bag, trapping it with air at ambient temperatures. Then when you take it inside the condensation forms on the bag and not your camera internals and the temperature in the bag will adjust at a slower rate.

The dedicated photographers are the ones sitting in a freezing cold car waiting for their camera to equalize. Putting the bag on the hood of your car won’t work if you’re running the engine and leaving it on top of the car is an invitation to forget your camera is up there.

Another factor to consider shooting in cold conditions are your camera batteries. Cold temperatures will increase the internal resistance of your batteries. What was a marginal battery will quickly become useless in cold temps. Always have a spare battery in an inside pocket, close to your body where it is warm.

The other thing to consider is your own exposure. I don’t know about you, but when I’m taking pictures I lose track of everything else. I once saw a video of a wreck at an auto race when a car came over the rails and killed a pair of photographers near the wall. Someone near me asked how that could happen, and I said it was because they were trying to get the shot.

Pay attention to exposed skin, losing feeling and numb feet. Those are signals it’s time to go in for a while.