How to cool down

[Noa Put]

Weatherforcast is not good for this Saturday, we are expecting temperatures of at least 37 degr Celcius (almost 100 deg fahrenheit) and high humidity, I guess you guys "down under" are used to those kind of temperatures but what do you do to keep cool? :)

I spoke with the bride today who's wedding I am shooting this Saturday and she told me it was ok if I would wear short pants and a t-shirt but I don't feel comfortable doing that, she said she probably would buy these mini ventilators to hand out to the guests when they arrive, I might attach one onto my camera with velcrotape :) The ceremony is going to be in a very small chapel which will be crowded so I expect it to be bleeding hot inside. The venue also doesn't have airco so that will be fun.

I also am a bit worried about my gear, particular my rx10 which has been acting up ever since I updated it to the latest firmware, the longer I use it throughout the day the slower it reacts, might be a heat issue and if so I certainly will know after this weekend.

I"m looking forward to seeing my viewfinders fog up :D

[Roger Gunkel]

Filmed a school production yesterday evening and it was over 90F on our filming platform. By the end it felt like we had stood under a shower and sweat was dripping off my chin while I was filming.

Roger

[Robert Benda]

Noa, my understanding is that our friends down in Australia keep cool by standing in the shade of the many murderous giant creatures wandering the landscape.

Cool, damp clothes/bandanas/towels on the back of your neck is a great start. Have a cooler with 2 or 3 of them. Freeze plastic bottles with 1/3 water, then fill rest with drinkable. Maybe have 1 with just ice and use it on your face, neck and joints like elbows, back of knees. No joke, it will do wonders.

If you'll be out in that for long, don't forget your salt. I usually drink a V8 (veggie drink high in sodium) early on, but if its super hot, will do 2, and/or maybe something else salty like pretzels or potato chips. Doesn't need to be a lot, but you do lose more fluids and salts than you think.

Maybe see if you can pick up a battery powered fan. Check a camping store.

And don't forget your umbrella to put you in the shade.

[Adrian Tan]

Well, in the bottom part of Down Under, it tends to be hot and dry, not hot and humid. But I've had a lot of lens fogging issues when shooting further north, where it does get humid, like Cairns or Bali or Malaysia. Just walk indoors to outdoors and your glasses will fog up. Maybe someone from Indonesia or Malaysia or Singapore will chime in this thread.

Solution for lens fog: I remember carrying lens paper and an air blower in my pocket. Filters on your lens can be a pain, because the lens can fog up behind the filter as well, and then you're faffing around with two bits of glass. But who knows -- maybe the soft, diffused, Vaseline-on-lens look will be flattering to the bride and create interesting light effects.

Solution for videographer getting hot: Robert's right -- we just take advantage of nearest giant creature. If you feed them Eucalyptus leaves, they become more docile. We also go to work in shorts and no shoes (not kidding -- it's a Northern Territory thing; and the Northern Territory News, by the way, is full of stories about crocodiles in people's swimming pools and garages, etc).

[Gregory Gesch]

Hi. Yep I'm up in the hot/humid area so a couple of thoughts:
I wear black cotton long sleeve shirt (cuffs folded back) and long trousers - natural fabrics breathe better
Deodorant - very important - there is a natural chrystal type stick which you run under water and wipe on which is miraculous, lasts all day and is not expensive
Water or sports type drinks which replace electrolytes. Very important to stay hydrated, keep bottle near you and sip regularly. If you're not urinating or if your urine isn't light colored then drink more.
You can freeze some types of bottles and they will thaw during the day
Small damp hand towels, place around neck and wipe around wrists occasionally, replace when they heat up (store them in with the cool bottles) - they do help you cool down and act as a sweat cloth.
Put wrists under running cold water (or against anything cool) when you get the chance.
By far the most important is staying hydrated.

[Don Bloom]

Black short sleeve dress type shirt or in extreme cases a black dressy looking sweat absorbing T shirt. It looks like silk. Black cotton pants, as much water as I could handle and in one case I actually used a golf umbrella (about 48 inches) that I clamped to my tripod.
In most cases the outdoor weddings I did were fairly short, 20 to 30 minutes from walk in to walk out.
At these hot outdoor event I wasn't interested in how I looked only that I didn't get heat exhaustion again. Had it 3 times before and I didn't want it a fourth time.
Stay cool my friend!

[Steven Davis]

I wear a moisture wicking shirt and police tactical pants that breathe. It's all black so it has to breathe or I'll stop doing so.

[Steve Bleasdale]

Pair red high cut shorts, flip flops and sun cream?? may as well get a tan Saturday... ( just kidding)

[Noa Put]

Pair red high cut shorts, flip flops and sun cream?? may as well get a tan Saturday... ( just kidding)

and a hawaii t-shirt! The bride said I didn't need to worry about dress code, she wanted me and the photog to wear whatever would be comfortable considering the heat, let's give her a scare :)

[Steven Davis]

I dunno Noa, if you're in Hawaiian flower shorts and you inadvertently make it in to my shots, you might become famous on my youtube channel.

[Kyle Root]

We shot up near Nashville a couple weekends ago. It was so hot and humid at this outdoor wedding. I actually changed into shorts and a t-shirt towards the end around 10:00 PM before the couples exit.

I had a 2 hour drive home and was packing up gear and what not just prior to the exit, so as soon as they pulled out, I was basically right behind them. lol

I'll never forget about 3 years ago, I was filming my first outdoor wedding in June... it was SOOOO hot. I did not drink enough water early on in the afternoon and got super light headed later in the evening from losing soo much water and being so hot. I took a good 15-20 minute rest and drank water. Started feeling better after about 30 minutes or so.

So yeah make sure and drink a lot!

[Jon Robertson]

Stark bollock naked and a high factor sun screen.

[Rob Cantwell]

surely you'd wear a sporran!! otherwise there'd be too much distraction...remember it's not about the videographer :-)



I always bring a second set of clothes that i change into during the afternoon, that and water keeps me going

[Paul Mailath]

I wear black slacks & a long sleeve shirt no matter what - if I'm in the sun I'll wear a hat but that's it. I feel I have to blend in with the guests. if it's going to be 40 or over I'll take a change of clothes ready for the reception.

I was born & bred in the bush so maybe I'm used to it but if you're not,you have to be bloody careful - always have water with you and take a sip whenever you get a chance but not too much. If you can stay in the shade great but if you're out in the sun cover your head and move when you can. Wear a collared shirt to cover your neck

[Noa Put]

Well, I survived, more or less, it was as prognosed near 100 deg Fahrenheit and very humid, it actual went pretty well before the ceremony, I had black trousers and a black shirt with short sleeves on and the photog kept making fun of me because he had short trousers on but during the photoshoot he seemed to have more issues with the heat then I did. I also brought a small towel with me to wipe of my sweat just in case but didn't need it at first but then it happened, I had to drag all my gear on foot to the church which was not that far away but I had to drag my lowepro case (that has trolleywheels) with a bit more force because I had to go through a piece of grass and the wheels didn't turn, I also had to carry 2 small tripods. While I was approaching the church I felt my body heat building up and I had trouble breathing, as if there was a weight on my chest, most likely caused by the high humidity and as soon as I entered the church and started to set up my camera's and audio sweat was pouring out and I was soaking wet when the ceremony started 45 minutes later.

Currently I"m physically exhausted, eventhough it wasn't a tough day, actually a quite easy one since I only had to be on 2 locations but it was the heat and humidity that made it so worse, luckily the venue was air conditioned :)