We haven't ventured all that much into freezing temperatures on this blog, but not too long ago Ryan took his SCARLET into subzero weather, and managed to get some great behind the scenes footage on a short film. Tom Guilmette, who is well-known for his Phantom Flex Vegas Hotel Room video, is shooting a project atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire, and braving the elements with the observers, engineers, and climatologists on the summit. He's come up with a pretty ingenious way to keep his DSLR from freezing as it takes timelapse photos overnight. Click through to check out the video.
Here is a little bit about what happens up on the mountain:
I am embedded with the team of observers, engineers, and climatologists shooting an extreme weather project at the Mount Washington summit weather station. This facility is owned and operated by New Hampshire state parks. There are a few park rangers who work up here year round. About 5 people work up at the observatory and switch out with another 5 people every 7 days. There is a narrow and steep road that snakes up the mountain side. During shift change, they bring up food with trucks or in snow tractor. Trash goes back down. While doing their job, they are constantly dealing with ice buildup on weather recording gear. They must enter numbers into a computer every hour or the entire place will blow up. Kinda like that guy Desmond in the quarantine bunker on LOST.
I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to these extreme temperatures, so it's nice to watch the behind the scenes in the comfort of a warm room (instead of on top of a mountain). The timelapse setup that Tom has created looks like an incredible system that could probably operate in even more extreme weather, and his attention to detail is exceptional. Obviously this comes from quite a bit of experience, but if you're tackling your own timelapse in freezing temperatures, you might be able to build a similar system utilizing a heat pipe to keep the lens and the rig free of ice.
Be sure to head on over to Tom's blog to read the rest of his gear list if you're curious about building your own.
What do you guys think? Have you ever built anything like this to keep your gear safe from the elements? What have you done to keep condensation and ice off your lenses?
Link: Blogging from the Summit of Mount Washington -- Tom Guilmette
