Use a cheap skin-diving snorkel, and stick the tube outside the dark-cloth.Originally Posted by 400d
Use a cheap skin-diving snorkel, and stick the tube outside the dark-cloth.
We don't look goofy enough when we're shooting? Now we gotta wear swimming gear when it's thirty below?
Speak for yourself, Michael. I look dignified and professional when I'm shooting LF, with my dark cloth (a black t-shirt) around my neck and hanging loose after I straighten up from the ground glass.
I only look goofy when I'm shooting my Altoids Gum pinhole cameras on my tiny pocket tripod. Well, or any other tripod I own, come to that...
If a contact print at arm's length is too small to see, you need a bigger camera. :D
Re: preparing for winter
I bring all my gear inside and wrap the backpack and all with an old quilt. About four hours later It is at room temp, and I put it away.
Keep it out of a warm car on the way home.
Buy some spiked soles to strap on your hiking boots and Gators to keep the snow off your lower legs and ouy of your boots. REI sports sells both. Hand warmers are really nice when you take your gloves off to shoot a pic. I try to use hunter gloves where the fingers 1/2 covered and mittens fold over them for when you are not shooting cameras or guns.
Proper clothing is imperative.
K-Y, a wonderful cold weather lubricant for cameras. Really.
If you need something like that.
What I like about it is that it can easily be removed with water, so its easy to replace with your normal camera grease when you aren't in sub-zero conditions.
Get the jumbo-sized veterinary tube of the stuff and tell your wife its for your dearly beloved field camera and see what happens!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Re: preparing for winter
Ya...suuuuuuure, John.K-Y, a wonderful cold weather lubricant for cameras. Really.
The snorkel idea might not be so dumb. Not thinking about my diving snorkel, but a foot-long section of soft food grade vinyl hose that can just hang down from your mouth, and a set of swimmer's nose clips for your nose...
i don't think you'll look goofy ... you'll look like a Ghostbuster.
I was only partly joking about the snorkel - certainly you'd look like a goofball. For those game to try you might look at the Black Diamond Avalung. http://www.bdel.com/gear/avalung_ii.php Spendy, no doubt, and I would rather be breathing through my nose - especially in winter. The Avalung would keep you from looking like a freakazoid - but you'd still be a "mouth breather". I like the nose plug idea - if you remember to mouth breath through a snorkel device 95% of the time - the 5% nose exhuast will still foul your GG.
-snip-
Personally I've always used white lithium grease, usually bought in automotive supply stores, but hey, I'll pick up a case of the KY stuff, and tell my wife it's for the cameras. Warming lotion, right?
A bit more serious, ziploc bags are possibly your best friend going form one extreme of weather to another. This applies from freezing to extreme heat. Always wait for yoru film and holders to "climatize" inside before opening.
I also find those small, portable, soft sided lunch bags and/or coolers are excellent for carrying around film loaded in holders. I first noticed them when my kids started school (many moons ago) and took these insulated lunch bags with them.
Depending on how much film you are carrying or the size of your film, these coolers & lunch bags are easy to find (try any Wal-Mart for example), realtively cheap, mostly waterproof (I sitll use ziplock bags), and lightweight. I've travelled through Kansas in 100F heat (102F I think it was ) and i've gone through snow and cold down to darned near -20 C with wind chill, and these things are just wonderful. Not perfect, but excellent.
The other thing I find, some film holders, depending on how long you are in the cold, can get a wee bit brittle. The padding on these cases, large or small, seems to offer some protection against damage if you fall or drop something - especially for natural born klutzes like myself.
Also there are these pocket warmers you can buy. Not sure of all the different brand names, but bascially a small plastic pouch or bag, with two chemicals inside. They sell arroudn hunting supply stores at this time fo year,a nd through winter. You squeeze them - break them, whatever - kinda like a glow stick - and the small bag gives off heat for the next 15 to 30 minutes.
These things are excelelnt while shooting in the snow or cold. Keep your hands warm, or hold one against the ground glass for a moment to remove dew/frost, there just seems to be amillion uses for them. Worth picking up some if you plan on a long time outside.
One last bit of advise, comming fomr Canada and dealing with cold weather all my life. The basic foundation of staying warm outside in the cold for extened periods of time is your underwear. Seriously. You can have all the fancy cold weather wear and gear in the world, but start with the foundation (pun intended). I have found nothing beats wool longjohns and wool undershirt. If you dress in layers, you can always add or take away. Add to that heavy duty boots, a down parka, and a good hat, and you would be amazed how long you can withstand the cold.
good luck
joe
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