Top Tips for Winter Photography in the Alps
Winter offers the most picturesque and breathtaking scenery for photographers. As you can imagine, here in the Italian Alps, there isn’t a wrong angle. You will find stunning snow-covered mountain tops and villages. Though you Winter might seem like the perfect time to take fantastic photography, it certainly presents a few unique challenges. So, us at Albergo Miramonti, have listed the best winter photography tips below. Try and remember these tips, and you might not end up with a frost-damaged camera!
TAKE SPARE BATTERIES WITH YOU
We cannot stress this enough. Cold weather will kill your batteries. If you didn’t know already, the cold air would drain your batteries faster, shortening your camera’s lifespan to take photos. So, to tackle this problem, the best solution is to bring spare batteries with you - and keep them warm! Either store them in your backpack or an inside pocket of your jacket. Imagine missing out on taking pictures of Alpine Forests, Christmas Markets or Alpine Lakes.
CHECK YOUR
SETTINGS
Taking photos of snow if absolutely gorgeous, however, it can also throw your exposure meter off-balance. This is because of the stark ‘whiteness’ of the snow causes the camera to underexpose a photo. So, to solve this, you should always manually adjust the exposure. For instance, if the snow appears darker on your camera, do increase the exposure by +1 or more, just lift the brightness a little more, making it identical to how you’re viewing the snow in real-time.
WEAR GLOVES
Keeping your hands warm in the cold is extremely important, especially if you’re a photographer. As photographers, we use our hands and fingers to operate the camera. So, if our hands are frozen, then we cannot take pictures at all. Therefore, make sure you invest in suitable quality gloves to keep your hands warm and for your joints to keep moving. If it’s challenging to use the camera with fully-covered gloves, then opt for fingerless gloves as it allows for more precision. Otherwise, having a glove is always smart in the Winter, imagine if you’re doing other activities like Skiing or Hiking.
PROTECTING YOUR CAMERA
Okay, perhaps the most essential tip in this list is to protect your camera. How? We will use the odd trick of using an ‘airtight sealable plastic bag.’ Why? The reason for using a tight bag is to protect the camera from condensation and moisture. For instance, if you’ve been taking photos for several hours outside in the snow, the camera would be significantly chillier. So, when you return to the cabin, the camera is hit with a sudden blast of warmth, creating extra moisture which can damage it. Therefore, to avoid this, make sure you put your camera inside the sealable plastic back straight after you use it to keep some of the cold air inside. Then when you go back to your accommodation, let it slowly warm up rather than suddenly.
Why not stay at our Award-Winning Hotel? We are located within the Alps, with a Hotel Spa, relaxing Cigar Lounge and an Italian Restaurant that serves local Valtellina Cuisine.
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