I have been working almost exclusively with my 4x5 Monorail for the last several months but this afternoon I pulled out my 11x14 Century and dusted it off. I am seriously thinking of doing some winter field photography during the upcoming year so I have decided that I want to work with my big camera. I have done this type of thing before but never with the big camera. So if I go forward with this it will be a 4-wheel drive, snow chains, long johns, mittens and Parkas for me once Christmas is behind us. I did this type of thing once before a few years back when I followed the California Trail across Nevada; but it wasn't Winter, and I wasn't working with large format that time.

Right now I have a Wollensak 500mm Meniscus lens mounted with a Packard Shutter on the big camera but I want to go with a little different setup this year. Digging around in the drawer I found a 450mm Nikkor M and a Goerz Apo Artar 19 inch lens, both mounted in Copal #3 shutters. I haven't tested the shutters recently but they were pretty close to accurate the last time they were used, so I really don't expect any nasty surprises. They may need a little exercise to get back to normal but I need that myself so I don't consider that to be unusual.

So I have a couple of questions for the knowledgeable out there. Which of these lenses should I consider for this upcoming project and what should I be thinking about in order to keep the camera working effectively out in cold weather. Though I am pretty experienced with winter, mountains and cold weather, I have never worked out in cold weather with a large format camera for any length of time before.

Anyway, give me your thoughts and feel free to give me any advice you may think will be useful. I have about a month to put things together so I do need to get my behind in gear and get started.