Sakakawea wasn’t the only one taken aback by the frosty, fogged-in capitol building today. There were plenty of us poking around the grounds, even in the early afternoon. I wanted to make it during the morning hours, but was unable to do so before church. I bolted to the capitol immediately after church, and found that the cold temperatures had kept the frost completely intact. There were a few other people poking around with cameras as well.

Somehow, I imagine this is exactly what it was like to be a pioneer some days…braving bitter cold in search of a better life. Thankfully I had the warm truck in which to warm my frozen fingers, because even a few minutes of working the camera made them painfully cold.

This wrought iron horse was a remarkable sight as well, with the gaps in the re-bar sealed with a frosty glaze. I had all but forgotten this statue, but it caught my eye as I rounded the capitol mall. I actually came back later to try a different technique with this statue, and there were still people taking pictures of it. The effect I wanted was to keep the background out of focus, allowing the horse to stand out a little better. It wasn’t easy; I need to get a neutral density filter. I was unable to keep my aperture wide and still keep a slow enough shutter speed to sync to my external flash. I used a lens that tends to help with depth of field, then exaggerated the blur a little in Photoshop.

Check this out – only one side of the horse is frosted! I got the horse at a funky angle here, and I’m not sure if I like it or not. It was accidental; I was paying more attention to other details at the time, so I could get back in the truck and warm my fingers, and get home to my wife and boys. Little PJ has been spitting up, so she kept the boys home from church this morning. Let’s just call the angle ‘artistic’ and not tell anyone, okay?

I also got some other neat frost pictures near the river, but those can wait until another time. As far as I know, the frost is still out there, since the temperatures are cold enough. How long it will last is anybody’s guess…I’m just glad I was able to get out there with my camera to capture it!