Yellowstone in winter

I've decided to do a photo tour to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons next January -- the best time to see these national parks -- so I thought I'd post a shot I took a few years ago at one of the geothermal areas in early morning light. I've always had mixed feelings about the hexagonal flare caused by reflections off the blades of the aperture inside the lens. Part of me thinks they add to the picture in that they underscore how brilliant the light was; the other part thinks they are distracting. Backlit steam in a snowy environment always makes for drama in a photograph, and the texture of the pristine snow, the raised head of the elk, and the blue sky contribute, in my opinion, to the success of this shot. My settings were 1/250, f/16, and 200 ISO. I've never had problems with my camera in extreme cold, but serious planning has to be done to protect fingers and toes when shooting in winter. For my feet, I wear boots rated at minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. For my fingers, I wear on my right hand only a glove liner for complete manual dexterity. I put 5 or 6 heat packets in the right-hand pocket of my parka, and when my fingers get cold I hold the warmer. That replaces the lost heat so I'm good to keep shooting. This is the only solution I've found to deal with extreme cold.