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The sparkling drops of melted frost on the seed head of Stipa gigantea (golden oats) above caught my attention one morning. I had gone outside knowing that any frost had already melted and expecting it too be too late to find any interesting photographs. When I saw this, however, I realised that I was wrong. There was still plenty to see and photograph.
You may have already seen several of the photographs from that morning in an earlier post: https://annmackay.blog/2022/01/30/after-the-frost/
Both of these photographs are of the Stipa gigantea. I was tempted to keep the more sparkly top one as a possible Christmas ‘nature’s decoration’ photo, but decided to hope for more frost before the end of next December. The need to find something to post right now was stronger!
The garden keeps me going even in the winter. It gives me new things to look at and to explore with my camera. It stops me from getting bored and helps me to look forward to the future. Sometimes it even brings a bit of sparkle into my life. Hope your life is a bit sparkly too!
Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature 
Grateful for any and all sparkle Ann! The NZ protest/insurrection has a very dark underbelly and it’s causing much heartache, frustration, fear and anger in the community. It’s not at all clear how things will play out 😦
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There seems to be a lot of anger and disagreement everywhere. It’s unsettling! I hope that things will resolve without violence in NZ and that there will be calm again.
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Yes. A lot of people debating how the police response should be. Police are focusing on de-escalation which is different for them (we’ve had very bad interventions in years past). I won’t go on but it’s pretty tense here atm.
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Sad…hope things get better soon.
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oversized clarity in the photos speaks for exceptional lens optics
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Thank you! I do like my Canon gear… 🙂
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oversized clarity in the photos speaks for exceptional lens optics
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Looking at the drops, it seems as though some of them might still be partially frozen. I’m not sure how else to account for what seem to be little bubbles inside them. I pondered sediment as an explanation, but it seems to me that sediment would fall to the bottom of the drops, while bubbles might rise.
See? There was something interesting for you to photograph. Your drops certainly caught my interest!
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I was intrigued by those bubbles too. Some drops were still partially frozen but hard to be sure without touching them and knocking them off the plant. That would have been an oopsie, hehe!
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Like jewels. We all need to see a bit more sparkle.
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These were a lovely surprise. 🙂
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So beautiful, Ann – it would make a beautiful necklace if made from glass drops!
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I like that idea – these would make lovely glass beads. 🙂
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You did well in getting so many of the drops in focus. I expect they brought a sparkle to your day.
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They did! 🙂
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Well seen, Ann! Even melted frost beads reveal their own beauty as drops containing a tiny fragment of their frosty loveliness.
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I’m wondering if we might have another frost to come in the next week…though if there is, the sun will chase it away pretty quickly. Must keep my camera handy! I like the idea of ‘melted frost beads’. 🙂
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We shall see front without doubt, Ann. Several nights upcoming with temperatures well below freezing. Brrrrr…. 🙂
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Stay warm!
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Well, of course I meant frost. But the cold will be the result of a cold front. 🙂
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It may also result in a cold front if you don’t wear a warm coat when you’re out…hehe!
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Gorgeous images Ann! The top one would look fabulous framed I think.
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Thank you Syd! I’ll probably put it on FAA and another site where I sell photos. I have a lot to catch up with on those sites!
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I love nature’s jewels even more than humans’.
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Me too! As a young child I missed the school bus, but didn’t come in to tell my mother for ages because I was so entranced by the sparkle of the dew on the grass. She wasn’t impressed! 🙂
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You were a nature lover and gardener in the making at an early age, Ann. 😊
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I think so!
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