I took my left-handed to shoot cars in the Arctic. These are my professional tips

I recently traveled to Sweden to study, write and make CNET’s features, explaining why electric cars are great for winter driving. It was a big story that required me to travel across multiple areas of Sweden and venture northward into the frozen Arctic Circle. As a journalist and professional photographer, my job is not only to tell the story, but to capture it on the camera. This means traveling with the right equipment and knowing exactly how to use it to get the lens I need.

From the camera gear I carry with me to the difficulty of shooting on the spot to the thinking process behind the lens, that’s how I capture stories on my camera.

The camera equipment I use

Since I’m going to travel in Sweden, jump on trains and planes and jump out of taxis, I know I need to keep my setup light. I don’t want to put my heavy backpack on the body that fills the camera and countless lenses and accessories. Instead, I only took one camera: my new Leica Q3 43.

At the end of last year, I bought this camera myself. It combines a high-resolution full-frame image sensor with a fixed focal length of 43mm. I like this focal length because it provides a good balance between wide-angle viewing and magnified appearance. I often shoot with 35mm or 50mm quality lenses, so a 43mm lens that is permanently fixed to the camera is a great beauty for me. The result is that I only have one camera and lens to carry, making my backpack load download and removing any distractions in my mind about which focal length to use. Instead, it encouraged me to work harder to find the best.

I brought a backup battery if needed, as well as a power library to load the camera on USB-C (I don’t have one). The only addition to my setup is the Polarpro 135 Gold Mist Filter. This gives the image a soft golden atomization that softens the sometimes harsh details of high resolution shots and provides a film-like beauty that I absolutely love, and I save this filter on the camera almost the entire time.

To help protect my camera, I used half of the case of the leather oberwerth, which also provides extra grip – having the Polarpro Thumb grip on the back also helped. This way it is always ready to shoot, and I often use the Bowman leather camera strap to lift the camera up my neck. Needless to say, for a $7,000 camera, I have my own photography insurance in case anything unfortunate happens.

When gears are not used, I put the camera, accessories and other drills and bobs in my Wandrd Prvke backpack that provides a secure storage section for my camera device, as well as an expandable top of the roll for my jacket, hat, gloves or something else I need to carry around.

Video equipment

I also need to shoot videos on this trip, which are both CNET videos that will run with my posts and capture content for my personal photography YouTube channel. To lose weight, I decided to buy the DJI OSMO Pocket 3 Creator combination. This tiny, stable camera captures beautiful, smooth lenses and is the ideal partner for my busy schedule.

I used it to capture the B volume inside the Volvo headquarters in Gothenburg; photographed the car while gliding on the frozen lake; and captured my photographic hike in Stockholm (see above) during my day off. Of course, maybe these lenses aren’t like the movies I usually try to implement from my usual Canon R5, but it looks good enough, and the DJI setup is easier to carry around than full-size mirrorless cameras and lenses.

Arctic Photography

The first destination I traveled was Volvo Headquarters, where I showed me the various areas used to test their electric cars. Such places are not always easy to shoot. The main problem is that Volvo is not keen on showing off all its engineering secrets, so many of the areas I visited are forbidden zones for photography. Other locations where photos can be taken may not be obvious to my story, so it is important to work with Volvo, just like I do with any company – looking for compromises that both parties are satisfied with.

This is not a problem, I am particularly happy with some of the images in the company’s battery testing area, which is a key topic for my written article. As a journalist and photographer, my goal is to always rely on my own images when I visit such an area. It adds to the authenticity of the story, showing CNET readers that I’ve actually been somewhere and witnessed something firsthand. This is not the case if I just use the images provided by the company.

Things became more dramatic when I joined Volvo in northern Sweden. My trip started with me to the Arctic Circle in the city of Kiruna, where I not only saw Volvo’s Arctic Test Facilities, but also had the opportunity to cross frozen lakes and through snow forests at night.

It was amazing, especially when we paused and briefly caught a glimpse of the northern lights above our heads. I set the camera on a peak design tripod, framed the image using a snowmobile as the foreground interest, and used a three-second shutter speed with an ISO of 800 to capture enough light. I’m happy with the images I’m able to get.

Crazy photos on frozen lake

We then drove a little southward to the city of Lulea, where we handed the key to the Volvo’s all-electric EX90 and provided a route that took us to the countryside and cleared the ice tracks on the frozen lake. I shared the driving with another journalist on this trip, which gave me the opportunity to shoot out of the windows and capture some of the details around the area that I think would add some extra color and scene to my story.

On the lake, things became less calm. I started doing some driving of my own, around the route, hoping to send the car sideways around the corners and often spin the tracks from the track to drifting snow. Very interesting. I attached the DJI OSMO to a small fixture inside the car and filmed my efforts from multiple angles, but then I got to do something more dangerous.

I need to capture images and lenses of the car driving, which requires a more complex setup. First, I need a test driver from Volvo to drive the car that is the subject. Then I will sit in the car in front, in the trunk with the tailgate open so I can freely take pictures of the car while driving behind us. When I do this on public roads, I wear a high volt vest and securely secured inside the car with a seat belt. We don’t have this on the closed track, so I just need to sit in the back and try not to slide out of every corner.

I almost almost did it, but I kept pressing my feet on the side to support me, which helped. Is it safe? No, not really, it’s definitely not something I’m doing on the public road, if nothing is there, because that’s illegal. But it was the only way I could get the lens I needed for the car in action. The frozen conditions on the track and the high-speed conditions meant that the snow and ice around me were shrouded in me – and the camera was in the snow. Thankfully, my Leica Q3 43 is weather-sealed, so I’m not worried about any water damage. At the top of this article, you can see the snow I sit on me.

I used a slower shutter speed on my camera (usually around 1/80 of a second), which slightly blurred the movement of the car’s wheels and ground as I crossed the past, while hoping to focus the car. I used burst mode to increase the chance of getting sharp, usable images, but even then I only got about 10 pictures and I was happy with the one hundred shots of the shot. But that’s great, I just need a few to tell my story. This time I did another run with my OSMO to capture the video. I did some from the back and some exterior windows and shot some footage of the theme car behind and the cars we drove to provide more videos for our talented video editors.

After our last lap, the day and my time in Sweden ended.

Editing and Suggestions

I took many images from this trip using Leica’s built-in chrome profile. I love the colors and tones it offers, especially when paired with the Polarpro Gold Mist filter. But I took images in JPEG and RAW and I can also apply my own edits to RAW files if I want. For some lenses (such as those of cars in sports on a track), I used my own edits, while for others, I just used JPEG with the built-in Chrome profile.

I took a lot of images to use on my trip, and most of my favorite shots use the built-in colors from Leica. Don’t be afraid to use these profiles, as they can provide you with a huge creative boost when you go out and take pictures. Fujifilm’s cameras (such as the excellent X100VI) are known for having a variety of amazing movie-like color profiles built in, so be sure to look up if you’re keen on in-camera colors.

Overall, I’m very happy with the various images I’ve taken by CNET and myself. It really helps me to keep the load on my device to a minimum because it makes me agile and reacts quickly when I see them. If you are keen to shoot your own trip and documentaries like this, make sure to check out my guide to professional travel photography.

Editor’s Note: Manufacturers cover the travel costs associated with part of this story, which is common in the automotive industry. The judgments and opinions of CNET employees are our own.