For us, this is extremely cold!

[Kris V]

I don't often get a chance to take pictures like this - it's just never THAT cold here.
Usually during the winter we have some night frost once in a while, but this year the cold weather seems to linger on....
For all of you in the frozen wastelands, this probably looks very common.

[Shadowman]

I don't often get a chance to take pictures like this - it's just never THAT cold here.
Usually during the winter we have some night frost once in a while, but this year the cold weather seems to linger on....
For all of you in the frozen wastelands, this probably looks very common.

Very common, although rarely with that type of greenery. Nice image.

[wlou]

A nice rendition of an icicle:a hanging, tapering piece of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water. Or so my dictionary says.Did you per chance tilt the camera or rotate in pp. Unless it was quite windy as the water dripped and froze at this angle? Nice shot.

[IzzieK]

This is very nice...unique in a way.

[Mike Buckley]

Did you per chance tilt the camera or rotate in pp. Unless it was quite windy as the water dripped and froze at this angle?

Based on the vertical lines in the background, I would be willing to bet that the camera was reasonably level.

The angle of the ice shown in the photo can happen naturally. After a small amount of water freezes at the tip of leaf, more water drips onto the ice and freezes. As more ice is added to the frozen drip, it becomes heavier and pulls the leaf downward. That often results in the ice itself no longer being perpendicular to the ground.

Indeed, notice that the drop of water that is not yet frozen and is about to drip from the bottom of the ice is perpendicular to the ground. That's actually the strongest indication that the camera is reasonably level.

[Kris V]

Based on the vertical lines in the background, I would be willing to bet that the camera was reasonably level.

The angle of the ice shown in the photo can happen naturally. After a small amount of water freezes at the tip of leaf, more water drips onto the ice and freezes. As more ice is added to the frozen drip, it becomes heavier and pulls the leaf downward. That often results in the ice itself no longer being perpendicular to the ground.

Indeed, notice that the drop of water that is not yet frozen and is about to drip from the bottom of the ice is perpendicular to the ground. That's actually the strongest indication that the camera is reasonably level.

I couldn't have said it better myself.
I picked this particular leaf, since it was the only one where the icicle was leaning in an angle. I tried to keep the camera as level as possible.

Here is another one, hanging straight down: (I got a little carried away, photographing icicles - until my hands were too cold to hold the camera steady.)
It's thawing right now, so they will all be gone pretty soon.

[Kris V]

A nice rendition of an icicle:a hanging, tapering piece of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water. Or so my dictionary says.Did you per chance tilt the camera or rotate in pp. Unless it was quite windy as the water dripped and froze at this angle? Nice shot.

No wind and no rotation in PP. All I did was crop, adjusted WB and selectively sharpened the icicle.
It's just because of this angle that I picked this one. There were quite a few icicles hanging on the leaves of this camelia bush, but this one caught my attention.

[Kaye Leggett]

I prefer the first - the angle of the icicle gives the image that 'something'. I would consider cropping to remove the two extraneous leaves ?

[Mike Buckley]

Kris,

Now that we have the angle of the ice out of the way, open the first image in your post-processing software and review the histogram. It indicates that the image is underexposed at least one stop and probably more. If you brighten your image considerably, I think you'll like it a lot more.

If you check your histogram in the camera immediately after taking a shot, you can immediately shoot again at a higher or lower exposure until you get the histogram where you want it.

[wlou]

No wind and no rotation in PP. All I did was crop, adjusted WB and selectively sharpened the icicle.
It's just because of this angle that I picked this one. There were quite a few icicles hanging on the leaves of this camelia bush, but this one caught my attention.

Thank you for the info, I was intrigue by the angle. Nature can do so many wonderful things. Did your fingers suffer any frost bite?

[Kris V]

Did your fingers suffer any frost bite?

Frozen to the shutter button!!!!!

[Kris V]

Kris,

If you check your histogram in the camera immediately after taking a shot, you can immediately shoot again at a higher or lower exposure until you get the histogram where you want it.

Mike,
But it was soooooo cold - I snapped some pictures and ran back inside.
I did try to brighten this in PP - but then the white background became to bright, and toning down the highlights and whites turned it into something muddy.
(Layers and masking to the rescue!) Many thanks for the advice.
A nice project for later tonight when it will be cold again. Right now it's 64 degrees, but it will drop again to below 30. If I manage some improvement, I will post the updated version.
Unfortunately, for now, all my pretty icicles are gone!

[Kyle]

Very nice. I like how the icicle looks like it is stuggling to hold on to the leaf. Just barely frozen to the underside, dragging it down.

[Mike Buckley]

Kris,

This is a five-second global adjustment that you can easily improve upon, especially if your original is a RAW file. I could have darkened the background, but saw no need to.

When you photograph ice, the brightest tones represented in the histogram should be on the extent of the right side because you want the brightest parts of the ice to be as bright as possible. Otherwise, the ice will look dull. If you review the histogram of my version, you'll see that the histogram is now displayed that way.

[Kris V]

Very nice. I like how the icicle looks like it is stuggling to hold on to the leaf. Just barely frozen to the underside, dragging it down.

Thanks Kyle.
It's all gone now.

[Kris V]

Kris,

This is a five-second global adjustment that you can easily improve upon, especially if your original is a RAW file. I could have darkened the background, but saw no need to.

When you photograph ice, the brightest tones represented in the histogram should be on the extent of the right side because you want the brightest parts of the ice to be as bright as possible. Otherwise, the ice will look dull. If you review the histogram of my version, you'll see that the histogram is now displayed that way.

Thanks Mike for the helpful info.
I do have the raw file. Later tonight I'll start from scratch. Might not come out as nice as yours, but I'll give it a shot.
I will post the result later.

[Kris V]

Here is a screenshot of 2 very different versions. I just don't know which one I should keep working on.

[Mike Buckley]

If you are going with a relatively natural look as opposed to a highly stylized look, the image on the left is the one to go with. It displays more detail in the shadow areas, more highlights in the bright areas and more natural saturation.

[IzzieK]

I like the one on the left too, Kris...for all the reasons Mike said, but the one on the right also has the natural look in the colour of the leaf just that it lacks the details on the shadows.

[Kris V]

I needed another pair of eyes after I played with this picture for almost a day.
Thanks for the input Mike and Isabel. Right side is going to file 13.