Dressing for Winter Photography

Here in New England the end of the foliage season pretty much ends our time to grab a camera, maybe a hoody and go out and take photos.  This year I was taking foliage and snow photos on October 30th, that’s a little early even for us.

Once it starts getting cold it’s time to put away the short pants and tee shirts and bring out the winter gear.

Right now there are two levels of cold:  there is 30/40 degree cold and there is 10/20 degree cold.  30/40 degree cold means a winter coat, a knit hat that will cover your ears, and a pair of gloves.  10/20 degree cold is an altogether different wardrobe.

We begin with a pair of heavy socks inside a pair of insulated work boots, preferably water proof and with a flannel lining.  There are three options for pants, a pair of snow pants, a pair of flannel lined jeans, or both of the above.

Your upper torso will be layered.  An undershirt, a Nike (or comparable) cold weather compression long sleeved shirt, a hoody, a scarf wrapped around the neck opening of your hoody, and a heavy winter jacket, ideally waterproof.

To top it all off, a knit hat that can be pulled down to cover your ears. 

But while all of these pieces are important to your comfort, they are all secondary to the most important article of clothing for photography.  This would be gloves.

Bulky gloves are useless, thin touch screen gloves will allow you to turn dials, work your LED screen, focus and shoot, but they won’t help hands to keep warm in sub-freezing temperatures.

I have tried many different gloves to see what would be the best for warmth and dexterity in working the camera.

I have tried fingerless gloves where all your finger tips are exposed, I have tried mittens where the tops roll back to expose your fingers (but not your thumb), and I have tried gloves that allow you to peel back your index finger and thumb on each hand.  The peeled back sections are secured by tiny magnets that keep the tips from flipping back and getting in the way.

They all will work in allowing you to turn dials, touch your screen and press the shutter, but hand and finger warmth are not great.

I just stumbled upon a pair of gloves that have jumped to the top of the most ideal gloves for winter photography.  They are Palmyth Magnetic Leather Ice Fishing Gloves, Convertible Mittens, Ski Gloves with Thinsulate 3M.

The design of the glove has a magnetic flip back for your thumb and index finger on both hands, and a mitten-like space for the other 3 fingers.  The advantage of mittens in the winter is that the heat from each digit will keep each other warm.

The glove is black and white in color and the best way to describe it’s look, is that it looks like a lobster claw.

I purchased these gloves on amazon.com for $43.98 with free delivery.  At this time there is a 10% off coupon available. 

I am not an affiliate for Palmyth or Amazon and I do not have any financial gain, nor any links included should you purchase this item.

What are do you use and what have you used for cold weather photography?