An excerpt from MBP, a professional landscape/ wildlife photographer.
Quote (Martin Bailey Photography)
Prepare for the Cold
The Hokkaido winter is not for the faint-hearted, with temperatures ranging from 0°C (32°F) to as low as -30°C (-22°F) for early morning and mountain shoots. It is important to protect yourself and your equipment from these conditions. For this, you will also need:
For your equipment:
* A good camera bag, that all of your gear fits in. You'll need to put all your gear back in your bag before going in from the cold to stop condensation forming on your gear
* A few medium sized plastic bags to fit your camera in if you take it out into the cold without your bag, to stop condensation forming when you go back into the warm. Also to protect it while shooting in snow if it's not weatherproof
* Large, strong rubber bands to keep the plastic bags in place on your lens if that is your weatherproofing
* A towel or large cloth is often useful for protecting your lens and/or camera from snow. If you have a proper cover that covers both your camera and lens, this will help too, but probably not necessary. A cloth or towel often work better
* Some kind of taping or foam padding on at least one of your tripod legs, to stop your hands from sticking to it in extreme cold
For yourself:
* Good thermal underwear, long-johns and long sleeved thermal under-shirts
* Warm quilted trousers, like the ones used for skiing, but not loud colors that might alarm the wildlife
* Waterproof (preferably Gore-Tex or similar) trousers
* A down jacket or waterproof (preferably Gore-Tex or similar) jacket with a thick warm fleece under it
* Thermal Boots with a sole good for walking on snow and ice, and thick warm socks
* Warm hat or hood on your jacket
* Thin pair of thermal gloves, with rubber grip on the fingers and palm, or the fingers cut away, so that you can operate your camera with them on
* A second, larger pair of over-gloves are sometimes useful, especially if your under-gloves are fingerless.
* Polar Fleeces, three or four if possible, as we won't be in one place long enough to have things washed
* Thin fleeces or mid-shirts, to make adjusting to various conditions easier
* Hand Warmers and Foot Warmers (that go inside your boots) will be provided, but if you have a bran that you like, bring some.
* Hand warmers that burn solid fuel sticks are the best to put in your pocket to keep warm, but you cannot bring the fuel onto the plane. If you bring solid fuel hand-warmers, let us know, and we'll send some fuel sticks on in advance.
* If you are concerned about or prone to sea sickness, see your doctor or ask a qualified chemist for advice on what sea-sickness medication you should use, and bring some for our morning on a boat shooting eagles. (Usually we are too excited to get sick, but you never know.)