Okay. But did you have to pee? =8^}

Might I add that foam pipe insulation on aluminum  tripod legs makes
them easier to hold in very cold weather. I also use poly fleece mittens
that fold back to expose the fingers. They sell them in the hunting
departments. A dummy battery holder with wires going under your coat to
the real batteries makes that a non problem too. Since we basically have
two seasons in upstate NY, winter and July 27th, we learn how to cope.
Otherwise our photo season would be very short. Besides some of the best
landscapes involve snow. I love it.

 Frank    Rome, NY

i got you both beat :) -52C in northern british columbia, but -54f is
pretty damn cold for USA.

I live in Canada, and while I am not in the coldest area, it can get
numbing in short times, when outside.

What you *really* want, is layers, the inner most layer should be a
wicking layer, or material that transmits moisture from inside to
outside, some man made materials can do this, like polypropalene, and
some natural materials like silk.  Follow this up with a good insulating
layer which traps air, wool is the old traditional insulating layer.
Then add a layer of wind-proof and waterproof material, goretex works
the best, and some others work as well.  In cold, wind is enemy number
one, dampness is enemy number two.

Gloves are the tricky part here, while it's easy to layer on your body,
it's tricky for your hands, because you still need to have your hands
workable.  There are some possible solutions though, with an
auto-exposure and auto-focus camera, then a longer remote release could
be kept inside mittens, to make exposures easier.  With an
auto-exposure, manual focus camera, it's almost as easy to use the side
of your mittened hand to focus, and trust the auto-exposure mechanism to
work again using a remote release in your mitten to trigger the
exposure.  Fully manual cameras, you can probably grip an aperature ring
well enough, but you need a shutter dial that either overlaps the
outside of the body, or pick a shutter speed, and then set the aperature
to compensate.

I find mechanical cameras are better for cold work, as batteries can
easily freeze, film can freeze too, but slow steady manual advancing
will keep film from shattering.  Keep fresh rolls, in a warm area, used
ones should go in an outside pocket or in their plastic cans.  Make sure
they are in the plastic cans before taking them into a warm area.

Changing film can be the tricky part, because you need to use your
fingers for dexterous work, while loading.  Bulk film backs, or rolls
that are longer can help, use 36exp rolls, or bulk load your own, I
think you can go up to about 46 in a standard 35mm cartridge....

W