Nelson Algren once wrote “Chicago is an October kind of town, even in spring.” Chicago is a city that shines in every season, and spring, summer and fall offer the best photographic opportunities, mainly due to the weather conditions. Winter should not be ignored, though. With the right preparation, some incredible scenes can be captured. In 1988, during a February snowstorm, I picked up my camera gear and took the Blue line downtown. I walked around for several hours, photographing the city during a typical winter storm. The images I captured are among my favorites, not just of that era. I captured a frozen Chicago River, with a view of the river that no longer exists, for instance.

 

 

 

 

 

I was much younger back then, and didn’t give the weather a second thought. More recently, we had a couple of very tough winters- 2012-2013, and 2013-2014. Even though the last two winters were milder, by comparison, we had a major blizzard hit in February 2015. Be that as it may, I have gotten out, braved the cold, snow and ice, and captured some pretty amazing scenes. The photo below was taken at Montrose Beach in March 2014, and the sand was frozen completely solid like concrete. Just one piece of evidence of how brutal that winter was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before embarking on winter photography, there are some very important considerations (the preparation I spoke of earlier):

• Dress for the conditions. It should go without saying, but make sure you wear layers. If the temperatures are below freezing, or if the wind chill is below freezing, make sure you have proper head, face and hand protection.
• Speaking of dressing properly, having a good pair of winter hiking boots is essential, especially if you will be exploring rural areas. Traction and warmth are crucial!
• Make sure your camera is rated to operate in the temperatures you will be shooting. High-end DSLRs are usually rated to operate in sub-zreo weather, but some consumer DSLRs and point-and-shoot cameras might not be.
• If at all possible, keep your camera under your coat to keep it warm. Cold temperatures significantly reduce battery life, so bring some extra batteries with you and keep them in a warm place (pants pockets if you’re wearing a long coat).
• Practice operating your camera while wearing gloves. If you have to remove your gloves to operate your camera, make sure you don’t have your hands exposed for very long. I bought a pair of gloves from an Army surplus store, which convert from mittens to fingerless gloves by opening the finger covering, and they were extremely helpful for shooting last winter.
• Condensation is a constant concern, if you’re going from warm interiors to cold exteriors frequently. Anyone who wears glasses knows what happens when you walk into a warm, humid building from the cold outside. Keep some microfiber cloths with you to wipe off any condensation or fog that may build on your lens.
• When shooting in bright sunlight, snow can have a blue glow. Even in mixed sunlight conditions, the snow will have a bluish tint in the parts that are exposed to direct sunlight. The easiest way to counteract this in the camera is to change your white balance setting to “shade” or “cloudy”. If you are shooting RAW, you can adjust the white balance when you edit your photos on your computer, but adjusting the white balance in the camera first will yield much more natural-looking photos.
• Consider bracketing your exposures, to see how the scene looks with different exposures.

As with anything in photography, practice and trial and error will help sharpen your skills when shooting in winter conditions. And most importantly, have fun! Don’t be afraid to explore, as long as you’ve made the preparations. You will no doubt see something truly incredible!