Frosted geranium leaf.

Frost-Magic

Posted on by Ann Mackay

The frost has been back again, giving us some chilly but sparkling mornings. I’ve been grateful to see it because we’ve reached the stage of the year when there are few flowers or plants left to photograph.

Stalking around the garden, camera in hand, I’m usually on the lookout for images that are only made possible because of the frost: veins on a leaf picked out in white, petal edges encrusted as if they’ve been dipped in sugar, or tiny crystals of ice building up on frozen plant surfaces.

Frosted winter jasmine-3959
Tiny, frozen winter jasmine flowers with ice crystals building up on them.

The shady areas of the garden retain the most frost, and that shade can give a slightly blue tint to the white, which creates an even colder appearance. The lack of light makes it hard to get much depth of field in the photographs, even at fairly high ISO values. (I could use my tripod, but it’s much too cold to stand around for long and my feet feel warmer if I keep moving around.)

As the sunlight gradually starts to seep into the garden, I look for places where the frost has begun to sparkle in the sun. There won’t be much time before the frost begins to disappear as it warms up. This means I have to work quickly to capture the images that have attracted my eye.

Frosted Hydrangea-3967
This climbing hydrangea is in one of the coldest parts of the garden, shaded by the fence and a tree.

Eventually I’m either too cold to stay out any longer or the frost has started to melt and drip off the wet plants. So it’s time to head indoors, first wrapping my camera in a large plastic bag to protect it from getting covered in condensation in the warmer air. (Outside, it’s all to easy to let the viewfinder get steamed up by my own breath – a frustrating interruption to taking the photographs!)

Once indoors, it’s time for a well-earned mug of coffee and a chance to get warm again while looking to see what new photographs I have. Frosty mornings can be productive and very satisfying!

Frosted Fig Leaf-3827
The frost on this fig leaf will soon be gone, now that the sun has reached it.

Published by Ann Mackay

Photographer, mixed-media art adventurer and completely daft about plants.......

26 thoughts on “Frost-Magic”

  2. I had to learn to deal with a similar problem with condensation when I carried my camera from an air conditioned car into coastal humidity. I finally solved it by carrying the camera in an insulated cooler in the trunk. There may be better, or more elegant solutions, but that one has worked.

    I still can’t quite believe all the frost, ice, and snow photos that are appearing. I think your frost photos are especially lovely; many do look like sugar-dusted confections. The geranium leaf is my favorite in this group: beautiful color, and dramatic detail.

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    1. Thank you! I’m glad you like that geranium leaf – especially ‘cos there was a lot of awkward bending down involved in getting it! Now that winter is starting, there will probably be more frost and snow photos… 🙂 (The cooler was a great idea!)

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    1. Thanks Syd! The frost is very welcome at the moment because there’s not much else to photograph….I’ve been wondering if I’ll have forgotten how to photograph flowers by the time they reappear, LOL!

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  7. Thank you for taking the time to capture these beautiful pictures, Ann! My mom took a beautiful picture of a frost-covered rose a few years ago, and I have been intrigued with such pictures ever since. These frost pictures are lovely. I love your sense of adventure and curiosity in your garden.

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    1. Thank you Shelly – it makes me very happy to know that you enjoyed the photographs. 🙂 I’m sure you’ve already guessed that my garden is my ‘happy place’ and I feel very lucky to be able to spend time enjoying it.

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    1. Thanks Steve! The moustachesicles made me laugh! Brrr! 🙂 Hope you can keep warm while you’re out photographing. (It’s not at all bad here – only occasionally gets below zero C. And soon warmer when the sun gets up.)

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    1. We have a fairly blue sky here today – feels like a novelty after many days of rain and grey skies. The sunshine is most appreciated – especially by one of the cats, who is solar-recharging himself… 🙂

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      2. LOL, that is unusual! One of my cats is long-haired and doesn’t mind the rain if it hasn’t had time to sink into his fur. (He’s always happy to be dried off when he comes in, though.) But his short-haired sister knows how a cat should be and absolutely hates rain. 🙂

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