If you live anywhere North of the 37th parallel, you’ve probably noticed that all of your best family photos seem to stop when the frosty weather sets in. The reason is obvious: it’s just too darn cold to stand around taking photos in the winter. It doesn’t mean however that the light and moments are any less spectacular. Some photographers insist that a cloudy snowy day is the ideal light scenario because you don’t have to fight any shadows. To help you round out your photo collection across all 4 seasons, we have compiled our top 5 tips for keeping warm while taking more photos outside this winter:

(1) Gloves for taking photos with your smartphone. If you have to take off your mitten to operate your camera, you’ve already lost. Here are our picks for keeping your digits warm and functional.

Full coverage and bare touch: Scandanavian Texting Mittens

Cute but not for Canada: Touchy Texting Gloves by Etre

Full coverage and conductive touch: Precision Touch Glove by Columbia

(2) While shooting in the snow pick super bright winter accessories to make your photos really pop. Don’t be afraid of a little neon.

Chunky wool Felix Hat by Eugenia Kim

Ribbed Turban Headband by Eugenia Kim

(3) Snowsuits are cute on kids but not so cute on grownups (unless you’re in a ’70s James Bond movie and your name is Anya). You’ve already purchased your warm down anorak but don’t ignore your bottom half. These cold-weather pants are equally fashionable on the slopes and in the city.

Jes Racer Pant by Erin Snow (Yes, that’s really her name.)

(4) Warming yourself from the outside-in is one strategy, now let’s try the inside-out. Bring along a thermos or two on your photo shoot with hot chocolate or berry tea and you’ve just doubled your shoot time. The Japanese really do it best when it comes to the personal thermos. Here is our favourite:

Stainless Mug by Zojirushi

(5) Finally, you don’t want your cold breath fogging up your viewfinder so wear a thin neck scroll or scarf to cover your mouth and to keep the polar wind at bay. If this one is good enough for the Swiss Alpines, it’s good enough for us.

Alpine Scarf by Alprausch

Finally, don’t forget to stuff some tissues in your picket for runny noses! Do you have any cold weather photo taking tips?