Middle-of-the-Winter Wedding...

Hi folks,

I just booked a last minute wedding for February 2013. Burrrr...February is the coldest month in NYC. I have never shot a wedding in the freezing cold before.

Any pointer is much appreciated...you know, like not licking my lens and getting my tongue stuck on it.

get those disposable hand warmers if you're shooting the portrait session outside. my biggest pointer is to get your strobes out and do as much as you can indoors. haha

No experience with that type of climate yet (my location doesn't allow it LOL)

I wonder how the camera will react to temperature changes when going from outdoors to indoors... Will the lens fog up? Do you need to keep some silica gel packs on hand?

maybe test whatever gloves you plan to use if you can still change camera settings with it on...

also those handwarmers aren't for you but for the b/g. their face when you hand them the warmers is always priceless.

Now don't tell me people in NY have their wedding outdoor in middle of Winter!

Fingerless gloves. I can't imagine anything more than a few portraits will be outside though.

Yeah, obviously an indoor ceremony and reception. They want some photos outdoors and in the train station. But how long we are outdoors really depends on temps. Like today, with the wind chill it was close to 0 degrees.Burrr!!!

I have shooting gloves. Good idea on those hand warmers. I wonder if it'll be weird shooting with a ski mask on!

Nick

Ive shot a few.

1.coming from the outside back to a warm building.. your gonna fog up the lens. If you can,, leave a bag inside in a safe spot. And be prepared to grab another lens until the cold one warms to room temp

2. depending on how cold it is ( Minnesota cold is below zero..yup ive been in -10 shooting pics ) the pocket wizards will slow down or stop with OCF....so,, where a heavy coat,, keep the flash and the wizards inside they coat so the stay warm. Take your shots and get them back under the coat. cold slows down the battery big time on cycle times as well.

3. Obviously,, keep the clients bundled well and get your exposures before you have them take off the coats.. you dont want blue brides,,not pretty.

4. Shoot outside late in the day,, especially if you can get near a frozen pond or lake..reflections of the sun on the ice is awesome.

5. shoot raw and i would have a calibration target handy. I often have to warm shots up a bit in post to get colors to look right. ut i always want to know what the real color was.

6. keep your hands in gloves at all times, set up, take gloves off to take the shots and put back on when your done. Its hard to work a camera with frozen fingers and the tri pod and camera body will get cold quickly. If you cant feel the end of your fingers you will have a miserable time

7. let the cold lens stay cold when your outside. If you try to put it under a coat or keep warm, your gonna get fogging issues,, that totally sucks.

I'm in northwestern NJ and have two this February. Repeating some of what others, but my approach includes:
- gloves with removable fingers; I love these and use them for photography as well as every day use
- lenses fog up so much coming back into a warm space that they will not be usable for a time; you can't even wipe them as they will fog right back up again; you need to leave a camera and lens inside to use until the outside camera and lens reaclamates itself to being inside again. And leave the lens cap off while this happens so that moisture can escape.
- If the couple are cold, that will show in the pictures; the bride should use some kind of wrap; it also helps to have a place to go to warm for a few minutes, run out and shoot, run back in for a few more moments, back out, etc.
- Back lighting them can help to add to the "coldness" of the image, espeically their breath in the cold air; that can be kinda cool.

Let us know how you did and post some!

Glad I came across this post. I have one in three weeks time. The current temperature is here is around 0 to 3 C. The venue is close to the sea and the bride has expressed a wish to have photos taken on the beach lol. Have to wait and see.

This is nuts! Who gets married in February?! J/k j/k. No advice here cause I've never done one and will likely never book a wedding in the winter. Too cold. I'd hate it to much to have any enjoyment out of it

Side note on Roberts comment- Keeping the client warm. It really shows up in the photos. I often go out and set stuff up and then go back and get the B&G and shoot something in 2-3 minutes and get them back inside.

Nick, might not work for what your gonna do, But we often have the clients stay in warm cars, set up, jump out and take shots and back inside again,,especially for E sessions.

I just shot my first ever January wedding and lucked out with it being nicer than expected outside for some portraits and formals. Also the hotel was very hot inside so it actually felt good outside for a little while at least. I was prepared for zero outdoor shots when I booked it, and just planned on indoor window light portraits and strobed formals.

And this week I lucked out again with an e session. I thought the couple was going to have to wear Hoth gear but it warmed up for an hour or two.

Good luck with it. Maybe you'll get lucky too. Let us know how it goes.

I have not shot in weather as cold as previous posters but I had the exact opposite issue. I had a shoot in Death Valley years ago. It was 127 degrees. Ridiculously hot. I was shooting film on my hassey with a Norman 200b flash. On a full charge I was getting 7-12 full power pops on my flash before the batteries died.
Throughout the day I drank 7 liters of water and did not have to use the restroom once.

stay indoor?