I got Leica to shoot cars in the Arctic. These are my professional advice

I recently traveled to Sweden to explore, write and prepare a CNET function of Why electric cars are great for winter drivingS It was a great story that required me to go around many parts of Sweden and embark on the north in the frozen Arctic Circle. As a journalist and professional photographerMy job was not just telling the story, but to capture it cameraS It meant traveling only with the right equipment and to know exactly how to use it to get the photos I needed.

From the camera equipment, I took with me the difficulties of shooting on the spot until the thought process behind my photos, here’s how I shot my story on the camera.

The camera gear I used

As I was going to travel from Sweden, jumping in and out of trains and planes and jumping in and out of taxis, I knew I needed to keep my settings light. I did not want to be burdened with a heavy backpack full of camera bodies and countless lenses and accessories. Instead, I only took one camera: my new Leica Q3 43.

I bought this camera for myself late last year. It combines a high -frame image sensor with a high -frame 43mm focal length. I love this focal length as it provides a great balance between wide -angle views and enlarged appearance. I often shoot 35 mm or 50 mm main lenses, so a 43mm lens that is constantly attached to the camera is a great sweet place for me. The result is that I had only one camera and a lens to wear, maintaining the load on my packaging and eliminating all the distracting questions in my head to use. Instead, he encouraged me to work more consistent to find the best compositions.

I brought a spare battery, along with a power bank, to supplement the camera via USB-C, if I didn’t have it). The only addition to my setup was a PolarPro 135 Gold Mist FilterS This provides a delicate gold fog on the images that sometimes soften the harsh details of high resolution photos and provide a slightly similar aesthetics that I absolutely love, and I have kept this camera filter almost all the time.

To help protect my camera, I used skin Case of Oberwert halfWhich also helped to secure an additional grip – also helped from the Polypa thumb on the back. So it was always ready to shoot, I often wore the camera around my neck with the help of a Leather strapS Needless to say about a $ 7,000 camera, I had my own photographic insurance for something if something happened to her.

When I didn’t use I wore the camera, accessories and other bits and beans in my Wandrd prvke backpackWho provides a protective section for storing the facilities of my camera, along with an expanding top for a roller for my jacket, hat, gloves or something I have to take with me.

Video equipment

I also had to shoot a video of this trip, both for the CNET video that will work with my article as well as the content of content for my Personal Photo YouTube ChannelS To help lose weight, I decided to buy a combination of DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Creator. This tiny stabilized camera with a camera captures great, smooth frames and was the perfect partner for my busy schedule.

I used it to capture B-Rol inside the Volvo headquarters in Gothenburg, to capture cars, while they slid on a frozen lake and to shoot my photographic pedestrian tours of Stockholm on one of my holidays (seen above). Of course, maybe the footage was not as cinematographic as I usually tried to achieve from my usual Canon R5, but it looked more than good enough and it was much easier to wear with you than with a full mirror camera and lenses.

Arctic photography

The first destination in my trip was the Volvo headquarters, which was shown to me various areas used to test its electric vehicles. Places like this are not always easy to shoot. The main problem is that Volvo, understandably, does not want to show all its engineering secrets, so many areas I visited were out of the limits for photography. Other spots where photos can be taken may not be as illustrative of my story, so it was important to work with Volvo – as I do with any company – to find compromises that are also happy with both sides.

This was not a problem and I am particularly pleased with some of my images made in the company’s battery test area, which was a key part of my written piece. As a journalist and photographer, my goal is to always rely on my own images when I visit an area like this. This adds to the authenticity of the story, showing CNET readers that I was actually somewhere and saw something first -hand. This will not be the case if I just used images provided by the company.

Things got more dramatic when I joined Volvo up in the frozen north of Sweden. My journey took me first to the Arctic Circle to the city of Kiruna, where not only I saw inside the Arctic facility of Volvo, but also received the opportunity to ride on a motor sled at night through frozen lakes and through snow forests

It was amazing, especially when we stopped and got a brief look at the northern shines from above. I put my camera on my peak design Travel Tripod, frame my image with the help of snowyceptors as an interest in the front plan and used a three -second shutter speed and 800 ISO to capture enough light. I am pleased with the image I was able to receive.

Frantic photos of a frozen lake

Then we traveled a little more south to the town of Lulea, where we were handed us by the keys to the all -electric EX90 of Volvo and gave a route to take us through the countryside and to the ice track that Volvo had cleared of a frozen lake. I shared driving with another journalist on this foot of the trip, allowing me to shoot out the window of the car, capturing some details in the area that I felt I would add extra color and adjust the stage to my story.

On the lake, things were less reassured. I began to do part of my own driving, walking on a lawyer around the course, hoping to send the car aside around the corners-and I often turned from the track in snowfall. Great fun. I had attached my dji osmo to a small clamp inside the car to capture my efforts from many angles, but then it was time to do something a little more dangerous.

I had to capture images and footage of car driving, and this required a more sophisticated adjustment. First, I needed one of the Volvo test drivers to drive the car, which would be the object. Then I would be in a car in the front, sit in the trunk with an open door, allowing me to freely shoot the car as it approached us. When I do this on public roads, I wear a high -vest vest and I am firmly attached inside the car using a safety harness. We didn’t have this on the closed track, so I just had to sit in the back and try not to slide until we took every corner.

At one point, I almost did it, but I kept my leg pressed loudly to the country to support me, which helped. Was it safe? No, not actually, it is not absolutely something I would do on public roads, if nothing else, because it would be illegal. But it was the only way I was able to take the photos that needed cars in action. The conditions for freezing and the high runway speeds meant that snow and ice are hammered around me, covering me – and the camera – in snow. Fortunately, my Leica Q3 43 is sealed from time, so I wasn’t worried about water damage. You can see me sit with the remnants of snow on me at the top of this article.

I used a more slow speed of my camera shutter – usually about 1/80 of a second – which slightly blurred the movement of the car and the ground as it diverted while I hope to keep the car in a sharp focus. I used a rupture mode to increase the chances of getting sharp, usable images, but even then I only got about 10 I was pleased with the couple I was shooting. But that’s good, I only needed a few to illustrate my story. I did another run, this time with my Osmo to make a video. I made some of the back and some of the side windows, capturing both the theme and some of the car that we drove to give our talented video editors more diverse frames to work with.

After our last lap, the day is over, as well as my time in Sweden.

Edit and Tips

I shot a lot of the images in this trip using Leica Chrome’s built -in color profile. I love the colors and tones it provides, especially when it is palarpro Gold Mist filter. But I shot my images in both JPEG and RAW, which allows me to apply my own edits to RAW files if I wanted. For some photos – like those of cars on the track on the track – I used my own edits, while for others I just used JPEG with the built -in Chrome profile.

I shot many images for my own use of my travels, and most of my favorite photos use the built-in colors from Leica Look. Do not be afraid to use these profiles as they can offer you a great creative impetus when you make your images. Fujifilm cameras (as Excellent x100vi) It is famous for having a variety of stunning movie color profiles, so look at those if you want to use the colors in the camera.

In general, I am really pleased with the variety of images I shot for both CNET and myself. It really helped that I kept the load on my equipment to a minimum, as it allowed me to be nimble and react quickly at times when I saw them. If you want to take your own photos and documentary photos like this, be sure to check My full guide for professional photography to travelS

Editors’ Note: Travel costs associated with parts of this story were covered by the manufacturer, which is common in the automotive industry. The decisions and opinions of CNET staff are our own.