5 Things To Make Taking Photos In The Cold WAY More Comfortable

+ some of our favourite outdoor YouTube channels

 

You can learn a lot about being comfortable in the cold by watching back packing and wilderness survival videos, especially when those videos take place in the winter.

 
 

Back in May we took a two week road trip across the island of Newfoundland in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada to shoot photos for a fun project for our YouTube channel. The thing about Newfoundland is, while it’s basically summer in the rest of Canada, the island is essentially still in winter/spring until mid June. That means the weather can be unpredictable. It could be “warm” and sunny one minute and snowing the next.

When we packed for the trip we needed to bring clothes for all seasons. In this post we’re sharing 5 things we brought that made taking photos in the cold WAY more enjoyable! I’m also gonna share some of our go-to outdoor youtube channels that helped us prepare for this trip (and are honestly an absolute JOY to watch!)

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5 Things That Make Taking Photos in the cold WAY more enjoyable

01

Wool Base Layer

Over the winter we decided we wanted to get out and enjoy the snow more. Chris HATES being cold, so I got us both wool base-layers consisting of pants and a long sleeve crew neck shirt to wear touching our skin underneath our layers. During our trip we LIVED in these! Layered up under jeans and rain pants, or the shirt worn under a knit sweater for extra warmth, these things kept us comfy and dry. The wool is moisture wicking as well, so if you do end up sweating during your shoot, it dries pretty quick and doesn’t allow you to have a wet shirt sitting on your skin to chill you when you take a break.

Smartwool Men's Merino 250 Base Layer

Helly-Hansen LIFA Merino Pant

Women's Cresta Wool Midweight 250 Base Layer

02

wool socks

We wear our Blundstone boots everywhere, they are our go-to for adventures because they are comfy, sturdy, and look nice with an outfit. KEY if you are only bringing one piece of footwear on a trip like this. As I mentioned, Newfoundland can be quite cold during May and without the sherpa liners, the boots can be a little cold when it drops below 0. I find having cold toes very distracting, it’s usually what causes me to bail quick on outdoor activities. Wool socks keep the feet warm and dry!

Smartwool women's Classic Hike Socks

Smartwool Men Performance Hike Sock

03

Photography Gloves

Shout out to ProMaster because these gloves are the absolute best when it’s between 0-5 degrees celsius and there’s ice wind ripping off the ocean. The fingers fold back so you can easily change settings on your camera, then you can cover em back up while you wait for your shot. GAME CHANGER. We went out once and I forgot them and had such regret! Each night I’d lay them on top of my bag so I wouldn’t forget. They became as important as my tripod during our trip.

Promaster 4-Layer Photo Gloves

04

Hot Beverages

Something we got into the habit of doing was brewing come coffee and tea early in the morning, then putting it in our Yeti Mugs to have in the car. It was SO nice to have something warm to sip on early in the morning when you’ve been out in the cold. They actually stayed hot for a few hours!

Often times we we’re over an hours drive away from a coffee shop, so traveling with our mugs was key. These will ALWAYS be on my packing list anytime we travel for now on! On this trip we even brought our camp stove so we could fire up a hot bev in the parking lot of our location!

YETI Rambler 10 oz Stackable Mug

05

Packable Down Coat

When you’re traveling from a warm climate to one that might be cold, it’s not really practical to travel with a heavy jacket especially if you are trying to pack light. I’ll never go anywhere without my packable down jacket, it’s super warm, easy to layer with, and packs up so small that it doesn’t take up much space. Plus you can use it as a pillow on the plane if you needed one!

Eddie Bauer Men's CirrusLite Down Hooded Jacket

Patagonia Women's Down Sweater Hoody

Outdoor YouTube Channels

I’ve become quite obsessed with outdoor youtube. During the pandemic and have found myself wanting to get outside more! I’ve learned a ton about choosing the proper gear for colder conditions through some of these channels, so below are a few of our favorites! If you have any recommendations send them on twitter @beckiandchris!



Miranda In The Wild

I love Miranda! She’s super real and isn’t afraid to share how she’s feeling, what’s making her uncomfortable and why (even if it’s just a poop she’s got brewing LOL). She’s a joy to watch and SO funny, and often breaks down what she uses in her kit which is really helpful as a newb camper/outdoors person.


Dan Becker

I’ve been obsessed with Dan’s gear videos. Dan changed my camp life when he made a video about sleeping comfortably in a tent and using an actual pillow, and now I like camping. Even though we didn’t go camping on our Newfoundland trip, I put some of his tips to use like “always have water in your car for when you get back from your hike, because if you drink everything you carry, you will be thirsty on your drive home”.

The Baird Bros

I first found Jim’s channel over the pandemic though his Baffin Island series. I got hooked, found out he won season 3 of Alone, watched that, and then found his brother Ted who was competing on the show with him. They have separate channels but both make awesome off grid wilderness series where they share nuggets of information while completing their trips. Both of them often do adventures with their family and it’s really nice to watch!


Justin Barbour

I almost think Justin Barbour might be one of the reasons we pushed to do this trip, and our upcoming helicopter series launching fall 2022. He’s an outdoorsman from Newfoundland who does extended adventures in the woods alone with his dog. One of his series documents a trip across the interior of the island of Newfoundland and it’s SO GOOD. Much more adventurous than what we are up to, but in a live stream he once said something along the lines of “everyone should get outdoors, it doesn’t have to be a 50 day backcountry survival trip, maybe it’s just one or two days over the weekend out camping. Find something that works for you” and that really stuck with me.



Catch our full travel documentary below!

 
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