Frost Flowers
In this series of photos, I challenged myself to capture the intricate details of ice nucleates. Recent cold winters meant that ice crystals or ‘frost flowers’ often appeared overnight on my bedroom windowpane. With outside temperatures dropping to -5°C or even -10°C, unheated windows can be transformed by beautiful natural wonders and the intricate patterns of ice crystals. These exquisite freshly sculpted artworks form when water vapour condenses and freezes onto cold glass in a complex fractal pattern which often resembles ferns and flowers. One morning, the crystals had formed some truly gorgeous patterns and I rushed to capture them in the soft morning light. I started out by using my Canon 18mm – 5mm lens and really liked how the colours of stonework on the opposite house showed through as an orange glow. However, I struggled with getting the focus just right on the ice and avoiding dirt on the glass. So, I switched to my Sigma 150mm -600mm lens and used it to pull the detail to me. This worked a treat as I had more room to manoeuvre myself by standing further back and could create more depth between the focus point and the background, helping smooth out unwanted details and create wonderful, coloured backgrounds from the houses beyond.