For capturing and recording your adventures, few brands can rival GoPro. Whether you’re shooting on land, in the air, or under the sea, there’s a GoPro for almost every occasion. But what if your latest excursion takes you into more challenging weather or environments, such as extreme cold temperatures or wintry landscapes? Fret not, for even in the snow and ice, GoPro has you covered—with the right accessories, of course. Here are some helpful add-ons to help get your GoPro camera winter ready.
Mounts
Winter activities provide unique challenges and opportunities for using your GoPro. One of the most obvious questions users face is: How am I going to attach my camera for capturing optimal footage? Luckily, there’s a suitable mounting solution for almost every winter activity. For endeavors in which you want to shoot a traditional first-person POV shot—such as skiing or snowboarding—consider either a chest or head mount. All three options allow you to capture hands-free footage with your GoPro, so you can concentrate on the action, not recording. There are plenty of options for mounting on vehicles and other accessories, as well. A handlebar/pole mount, for example, allows you to attach your GoPro to snowmobiles, ski lifts, and even ski poles, while a good old-fashioned suction mount will let you stick it just about anywhere else. And for those times when you need an extended view, you can use an extension tripod to get some extra height or length.
Filters
Capturing footage during winter can be tricky because of the reflective quality of snow, not to mention the inherent challenges of shooting outdoors. To improve overall image quality, consider picking up a filter kit. Polarizer filters are great for reducing glare off the snow and can boost contrast between the sky and clouds. By reducing your GoPro’s shutter speed, neutral density (ND) filters help reduce brightness of sunlight reflecting off the snow; the reduced shutter speed also produces a more natural look in your footage.
Power
Cold weather kills battery performance, and the last thing you want is for your GoPro to die while you’re out on an adventure. Luckily, there are numerous straightforward solutions to help avoid running out of juice. The most obvious? Just get another battery. Power packs and portable chargers are great when you’re out in the wild, but so is not having to use one because you brought along a spare battery. If you do pick up a second battery, you might also snag a dual battery kit to power them up simultaneously for your next adventure. Also, be sure to keep your batteries as warm as possible when not in use. The reason cold weather hurts performance is because it slows down the chemical reactions inside the battery, ultimately leading to a shorter lifespan. You can avoid this by warming your batteries while not in use or when they’re charging.
Memory
Having adequate memory isn’t particular to any one season, but it’s worth mentioning so that you don’t wind up in the cold with no storage left. Plus, with an additional memory card or two, you won’t have to fuss with deleting footage in the field or offloading images to a portable hard drive to free-up space. Just pop in a fresh memory card and keep the adventure going.
What GoPro accessories do you use when you’re out in the cold? Let us know in the Comments section, below.
Be sure to check back on B&H Explora for more of Adventure Week: Winter Edition—and don't forget to follow B&H on Twitter @BHPhotoVideo for up-to-the-minute #adventureweek news.
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