Political rallies of any kind - like politicians - are a favorite subject of mine, no matter whether they are right-wing Tea Party rallies or left-wing Occupy events. But the local annual right-to-life rally here in Alamance County this year would be different - as it would be at night and on a bitterly-cold January day when the temperature was in the mid-20s.
So I set my dSLR to ISO 6400 - and wore electrician’s gloves, thin enough to operate the camera and lens and offering a good grip on everything, yet providing good enough insulation from the bitter cold that night and the wind.
ISO 6400 allowed me to shoot no-flash photos - with the camera handheld - and still get great photos (below) of the candlelight vigil.
The cold did pose a problem - keeping the dSLR’s battery from putting out enough power to operate the camera. So I took out the battery and warmed it by taking the glove off one hand to hold the battery for a few minutes - as long as I could tolerate; I’d used this method before on other stories in cold weather. That got the battery operating again - and the camera. I promptly put the glove back on for tolerable conditions - and allowing me to hold the camera still, not shiver!
I got plenty of “keeper” photos - and soon had them uploaded to a news photo agency, along with a text description of the rally.

Political rallies are a favorite subject of mine.
Here, a nighttime right-to-life rally.