On shooting in the cold

Everything about winter wants to kill your camera. The cold drains batteries in minutes, the condensation fogs your lens the second you step indoors, and your fingers stop working long before the light gets interesting.

So here’s the routine: batteries in the inside pocket, two of them, swapped often. Never breathe near the viewfinder. Let the camera acclimatise in the bag before you bring it inside — an hour, sealed, no shortcuts.

And why bother? Because the hour the snow turns blue only happens in the cold. You can’t fake that light. You just have to be standing in it, half-frozen, ready.