Frost - January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

Stepping out onto the deck this morning I saw frost on the trees and a bit of fog in the air. I was excited and thought that the fields east of the city might be covered in frost. So I grabbed my bag, ran out of the house and started driving. It seemed that the fog was just skirting the east side of the city and the further out I went the thicker it became. There is a stand of trees in a field not far from the house that I've shot before I thought this would be a good place to start.

I parked near the field and walked in towards the small stand of trees looking for an angle to shoot from. Facing north the sky was quite flat and I was hoping to include the sun and get some nice light. Circling the trees to look from the other side there wasn't much frost on the trees. I guess the frost had come in with the wind and only collected on the south facing side. So, with the direction set I started shooting. The first set of photos were from further out and had a lot of field and sky in them. I kept moving in closer to the trees taking shots as I went. I like this view because it's close enough to see details in the branches and I really like how the circles on the ground surround the trees.

I spent a few hours driving around looking for more views. I came across this frozen slough with some trees in behind it and was able to line up this composition. I like the dark ice in foreground as well the shape of the trees. The frost really adds some interesting texture to the branches and at full resolution the photo looks a lot like a painting.

Sometimes the fog would thin out and the sunlight would paint the landscape with incredible light. It was fleeting though as the fog was constantly moving and shifting. I was a little disappointed when I got home and was reviewing my photos and found that I didn't capture any of that light. I'm not really sure what happened, it's almost surreal how I was immersed in the environment and saw the light but I must have been so entranced with it that I didn't stop to capture it specifically. I'll have to pay more attention next time ;-)

One more.. This one has some nice colour in it and was taken right at the end of my adventure..

Thanks for looking.
Brad.