Cougar

With the wind chill in the minus 30s lately, I asked myself, “Who would be crazy enough to be outside in this weather?” Then I remembered taking this photo.

After a spending the morning take pictures out in the bitter cold, I went to warm up and heard on the car radio that the temperature was – 1 F and the wind chill was – 40 degrees (about – 40.5 C). I went back out in the cold for 2 or 3 more hours and decided that was enough. But this photo is one of my all time favorites so it was totally worthwhile.

If you are going to be out in the cold, dress to stay warm. I was wearing layers, felt lined Sorel Pac boots, a ski mask for my face, another knit cap for extra ear protection, thin polypropylene gloves inside heavier gloves, and a down filled coat with a hood.

The thin polypropylene gloves were to provide some protection for my hands if I had to do something that was to awkward to do with heavy gloves on – which is often the case when doing photography. It is hard to beat Sorel Pac boots with a removable felt liner for keeping your feet warm. And heavy duty socks of course And when it isn’t terribly cold you can remove the felt liner. For wandering around, the hood on the coat is up, but the hood can be a bit of a nuisance when actually taking pictures. So I wear a knit hat over the ski mask for extra protection when the hood is down. When it isn’t ultra cold I wear the knit cap without the ski mask.