How to keep yourself warm when photographing winter landscapes?
Photographing the scenic winter landscapes of Scandinavia can be an unforgettable experience. It is easy to get stunned by the beauty of snowy mountains, frozen waterfalls and icy rivers. And above all, watching the Northern Lights dancing at the night sky is one of the most fascinating moments you can experience - as photographer and as human being.
But the conditions above the Arctic Circle can be challenging, especially when you are waiting for the Northern Lights to show up at minus 20 degrees celsius or less. Being prepared with the correct clothing is crucial in order to keep your body warm and to make the photo shoot an epic one!
The huge range of outdoor products on the market with different features and produced with various materials can make easily be overwhelming. This is why I created this guide to give you some insights into what I consider when preparing a winter photography trip to the North.
Upper body - “Layers and layers”
My best advice to keep your body warm is to wear several thinner layers of cloths instead of one thick layer. The layers trap warm air in the space between which works perfectly as insulation against the cold.
1. Base Layer: the best choice for the first layer for me is long underwear made from wool or merino wool. You can wear one or more layers that almost work like a second skin and should isolate your core body. The main advantages of wool products compared to other materials like polyester is that wool has much better insulating function and keeps your body warm even if you sweat. My favorite merino wool baser layers are those made by Icebreaker. The quality of their merino wool is one of the best on the market. I really like that they offer their garments in different thicknesses so you can choose depending on temperature and activity. If you are aiming for a winter hike with high intensity, their 175 Everyday Base Layer with a thickness of 175 g/m2 might be the right choice, whereas the 260 Tech Base Layer is probably better when you are out chasing Northern Lights and don’t move for quite some time. Here is the link to the Icebreaker base layer products. Other brands that are well-known for their high-quality base layers are Ulvang, Devold and Woolpower.
2. Mid Layer: for the second layer, I would usually recommend a thick, warm sweater made from either wool or fleece. When it comes to wool sweaters, Norwegian brands like Ulvang, Devold, Bergans or Gridarmor are well-known for their quality and durability. All those brands have a long tradition of producing high-quality, functional sweaters from sustainable wool. A good alternative to a wool sweater is a thick fleece (made from polyester). That will keep you warm as well and is the better option if you don’t like the scratchy effect that wool products can have. Here you will find a selection of fleece sweaters from different brands and in different thicknesses.
3. Outer Layer: your jacket as outer layer should work as a shell around your body retaining as much warmth as possible. The concept of thick down jackets filled with goose feathers is probably unbeatable when it comes to the insulating function. The down filling is both extremely light-weight and creates a thick layer of warm air between your body and the cold coming from the outside. The filling quantity can be varied depending on how cold the conditions are and how cold your body usually is. If you are a cold person or going to shoot in really cold conditions with below -10 degrees celsius, I would recommend a down jacket with at least 700 cuin filling. The wider the layer of air you can create around your body, the more heat you can retain. The Scandinavian brands Fjällräven, Haglöfs, Didriksons or Norrøna are known to offer durable and functional down jackets of highest quality.
Shoes
When it comes to the right shoes for landscape and nature photography in winter, it is really important that your shoes are waterproof, preferably produced with Gore-Tex fabric, a waterproof and breathable membrane. The winter boots of your choice should also have a thick/robust sole with good profile so you don’t slip easily on icy surfaces. Beside this, I would recommend that the should are insulated so that they keep your feet warm (for example the inner layer made from wool). Remember to leave enough space for wearing thick socks. It is usually good to choose one or two sizes larger than your usual shoe size. In general, I would recommend some kind of warm, waterproof outdoor/hiking boots with a high shaft. Some of my favorite brands for boots are Sorel, Lowa, Hanwag, Meindl and Lundhags. All of these brands are known to manufacture durable outdoor boots of highest quality.
Socks
Having the right socks is really important if you want to keep your feet warm. For me, the best choice for socks are thick wool socks (or several layers of thin wool socks). Wool is nature's very own functional fabric that wicks away moisture, keeps you warm even when it's damp and doesn't smell when you sweat. The Swedish company Woolpower offers durable, high-quality wool socks in several thicknesses. Depending on the outside temperature and your activity, you can choose from a wide range of thicknesses from light (model 200) to very thick (model 800). Woolpower's garments can be used as layer one, layer two or layer three. Other brands that are well-known for their high-quality wool socks are for example Smartwool, Icebreaker and Devold.
Gloves
For me as outdoor photographer, gloves are a really important part of the right clothing when shooting in winter. It’s obvious that you cannot take photos when your fingers are frozen. The wide range of different gloves on the market can easily be overwhelming when you don’t know what exactly you are looking for. There are two main features that we are looking for as photographers:
On the one hand you need to keep your hands and fingers warm while you are not photographing and waiting for the right moment to get the perfect shot.
On the other hand you want to have the flexibility to easily adjust the camera settings and push the shutter release button without taking off the gloves every time you take a photo.
There are a lot of products on the market, even special gloves made for photographers. Remember that the highest flexibility is of no use when the material doesn’t keep your fingers warm. From my experience, traditional wool mittens with a foldable “hood” works best for me. When you are not photographing, your fingers are kept together in the mitten to stay warm and wool is an excellent insulation against freezing outside temperatures. Once you need your fingers to set up your camera, you just fold down the hood and use your fingers. If you follow the link you will find the mittens that I use since a couple of years: Pullover wool mittens
A great add-on to wool mittens is a thin liner or inner gloves that fit underneath your main gloves. The liner will provide extra warmth make sure that your fingers are not exposed directly to the cold even if you fold up the hood. You will still be able to use your camera since those liners are usually very thin. Some even have a practical touch function on the thumb and index finger so that you can use your phone without taking them off. Here you will find some liner gloves made from wool or merino wool.
Hand warmers
Another useful add-on are hand warmers that can be tucked inside your gloves and provide instant heat. There are both reusable and disposable hand warmers on the market. The reusable hand warmers are gel pads whose heating function can be reset. The main benefit of those hand warmers is obviously that they are more economical and can be reused. Here is an example of reusable hand warmers made by Lifesystems.
The disposable hand warmers on the contrary can keep the heat much longer (several hours) and are available in various forms and sizes. The Heat Company has a large selection of disposable hand, feet and back warmers: theheatcompany.com
Hat / Beanie
As with most of the clothing that I already mentioned, a good choice of material for the hat is wool or merino wool. This will keep you head warm even in freezing cold temperatures. The Swedish brand Fjällräven offers a wide range of wool hats, all made from 100% sustainable wool with high-quality standards. The thickest hat that I know is Fjällräven’s “1960 Logo Hat”.
Headlamp
Days are short and nights are long during winter time in Scandinavia. With that said, you should always be prepared for facing the darkness of night. Regular torchlights provide a strong light, but are not very useful when you want to have your hands free. If you want to capture the Northern Lights for example, you want to be able to set up the tripod and adjusting the camera’s position with both hands. This is why I highly recommend to wear a rechargeable headlamp instead of a regular torchlight.
For capturing Northern Lights, I would also recommend a headlamp that features a red-light mode. Red light is not as bright as white light so you have a better night vision to spot the Northern Lights, but it still provides enough light to be able to adjust camera settings. Another great benefit of red light is that you won’t see it on your photos. With white light, the images would show waving light beams when pointing the headlamp in different directions while photographing.
Headlamps offered by Black Diamond, Silva or Petzl are known to be very powerful and most of them include the red LED night-vision.
Thermos bottle
When being out in the cold for a couple of hours photographing the most beautiful winter landscapes, it is nice to take a break with your favorite hot drink to warm up, isn’t it?
However, keeping your coffee or tea hot in ice cold temperatures is challenging for every material, so you should make sure to buy a thermos bottle that provides a very good insulating function.
From my experience, the stainless steel thermoses made by Stanley work best in cold conditions with their double-wall vacuum insulation. For some of their products, they promise that your drink stays warm for up to 24 hours.
I hope those tips could give you some ideas about what to consider when photographing winter landscapes. When staying warm, it’s an amazing experience and I am sure you will have tons of fun! Please remember that the amount of layers always depend on your own individual feeling (e.g. if you easily get cold) and the planned activity. You need dress differently if you want to go on a winter hike or if you are waiting for the Northern Lights to show up.
Now winter can come!
Cheers, Julien
