Some of my favourite footage was taken in winter – the bitter frost and falling snow can make shots really atmospheric. Before filming in winter though, it helps to be prepared for when disaster strikes in the form of a dead battery or a jammed film magazine/cartridge. This article will help you make sure you’re fully equipped and getting the right exposure in your movies.

1. Batteries

Just like your car battery that always goes dead over winter and causes ignition trouble, the bitter chill affects the batteries in your camera. The effects of this power zap can seem almost instananeous in the coldest of weather . That’s why it really helps to have an auxilliary power pack. These are available for most of the professional cameras (Arriflex, Beaulieu, Canon etc), but if you can’t find one for your camera, don’t fret, as there are generic power packs available if you look hard enough online.

Keep the external power pack warm in your jacket or trouser pockets to make sure it keeps supplying power. If you really can’t find an external power pack solution, carry some mega-long-life batteries in a warm pocket and replace them frequently when shooting. Finally, don’t waste power on functions like zoom if you really don’t need them.

2. Exposure

Don’t trust automatic exposure when shooting a blanket of snow. Because a light meter is calibrated to 18% grey, it will want to make that bright white snow a grey colour, and therefore your scene will be underexposed. Your camera might have a backlight button or manual override, if you can use it, you might need to compensate anywhere between 2/3rds of an f/stop to 2 f/stops. Alternatively, you could zoom in and take readings from people, not backgrounds.

3. Filters

Using a UV or skylight filter helps protect your camera lens against the winter weather, and also helps cut through the haze of ultraviolet light in the atmosphere and produce sharper images when you’re at higher altitude. Wipe off any condensation before using external filters.

4. Wrap Up

As well as wrapping yourself up in warm black clothing to retain heat, do the same with your camera! A nice thick jumper for your cam not only makes it look trendy, it both keeps it warm, and helps muffle camera noise when doing location sound.

5. Film

Keep the film in a warm place until just before you need it, and leave it foil wrapped if possible. If you’re shooting Super 8, bang the cartridge against something a few times to loosen it (some recommend that even when it’s not cold!).

- Richard Baines 2010.