Ned's top 7 tips to be prepared for cold weather photography

Winter arrives this week in the northern hemisphere. Parts of the U.S. have already had snow and frigid temperatures. Too many travelers put their cameras away in winter climates, missing great photo opportunities.

Shooting in frosty weather has challenges of fast power loss, mechanical parts freezing and sometimes breaking, LCDs not functioning and travelers' clothing not giving needed protection.

Cameras manufactured today have temperature specifications of about 32°F-104°F (0°C-40°C). If ambient temperatures are in or near that range, you're okay. In fact, I've found that most cameras and lenses have few if any problems, other than power, at temperatures down to 0°F (-18°C), at which the battery will run out of power quickly. If you warm the battery you will regain some of its power.

Below 0°F (-18°C), especially if there is a wind dropping the "wind chill factor," things can quickly get dicey.

Shooting new year's fireworks in cold weather

While it's not as cold in most of the northern hemisphere as it is in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and Longyearbyen, Svalbard, it still can be frigid enough to affect your new year's fireworks photography.

To photograph new year's fireworks in icy weather, photographers must combine good cold weather practices, night photography techniques, and the specific exposure requirements necessary to capture fireworks images. If you don't have a DSLR, don't think you can't make great fireworks images. With intelligent use, quality digital point and shoot cameras can make these photos too.

Wildlife Photo Walk: John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, February 8, 2014

On Saturday, February 8, 2014, I will be leading the Wildlife Photography Walk, sponsored by the Friends of Heinz Photo Group, starting at 9am in the Visitor Center of the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in South Philadelphia, near Philadelphia International Airport.

We'll be walking and photographing in several areas of the Refuge, including near its Impoundment Pond, Darby Creek, Hoyes Pond, and through some of the deciduous woods areas of the Refuge. The walk will last for about three hours. During the walk I expect to discuss the challenges of cold weather photography.

It's winter. It's snowing . . . blue?

If you live in the northeastern US, the weather this past weekend ensured you knew it was winter. The snow came down, and some areas got as much as a couple of feet.

Many went out in the last few days to make photographs of snow scenes, only to review the photos and see blue or gray snow.

Unfortunately, digital cameras aren't as good as the combination of our eyes and brains, which are fantastic at color and contrast correction and have a large dynamic range. Whether we see snow in the sun, or shade, or even at night, unless the light illuminating the snow is colored, we see the snow as white.

Cameras don't see the same way we do. They can be fooled by blue skies or shady conditions for snow scenes. The problem is, in snow conditions, the camera often can't set the image's white balance correctly. This is even true with expensive DSLR cameras.

Brrrr! 8 secrets for mastering travel photography in cold weather

According to Frostbite Falls denizens, Rocky and Bullwinkle, cold weather vacations are the best. The mountains are more majestic, the snowy plains look new and fresh, and the icy waterfalls are studies of frozen motion.

There are tremendous photographic opportunities while traveling in cold-weather destinations. But there are also challenges you must overcome to bring home photographic travel memories from places like Montreal and Reykjavik.