Ice Crystal Trees

Yesterday I went out to Green Lakes to try to get some pictures of the sunrise.  There were beautiful crimson red clouds with purple and pink hues but unfortunately I only saw them from the car.  I was about 15 minutes too late.  I should have listened to the alarm clock the first time it went off.  It’s probably a good thing that you were still in bed sleeping or relaxing and having your morning coffee.  I was NOT happy.  But I got to the park and got my gear out and having missed the sunrise I wandered over to the beach to look at the geese.  And that’s when I saw the little ice trees.  Tiny little pieces of leaf stem or pine needles at the water’s edge that had grown ice crystals on them.  Way more than your usual frost.  I’m not sure what kind of weather conditions precipitate this kind of large crystalline structure, but some combination of dropping temperatures (to EIGHT degrees above zero – brrrrrr), mist from the cooling lake water, and very little wind probably led to these.  So I got down on my belly, set my camera on the frozen sand and ice, and tried to capture their image.  It was harder than I thought.  The glint off the ice from the sun, my inability to see because my glasses and camera back were icing up from the condensation from my breath, and my inexperience with these little objects.  Anyhow, I managed to capture a fair representation of them.  I also managed to grab a quick shot of a few geese as they flew overhead when I startled them by accident.  Hope you enjoy the pictures and if you’ve seen these little ice trees before or know the conditions that they typically form under please leave a comment as I’d like to know more!