I got my first frost photography morning of the season yesterday. I’d been watching the forecast and had blocked out a couple hours on my calendar to make sure I had time to get out enjoy it. I woke up early and drove out to our family prairie well before sunrise.

I’m glad I got there early because there was a terrific explosion of color in the sky before the sun came up. I scrambled around trying to find plants to silhouette against the pink and orange clouds.

As the sun started to rise, I walked uphill to catch the first light and then worked back down the hill, following the edge of light and trying to photograph frost as it was first hit by the sun but before it started to melt.

Sideoats grama is always a favorite subject of mine and frost only amplifies my enthusiasm. I didn’t see a lot of it (I was in the wrong part of the prairie) but had fun playing with one particularly attractive example.

I think I take basically the same photo of dotted gayfeather seeds every year. I can’t help it – it’s such a great plant to play with in different lighting. So, here’s this year’s version:

False boneset is a great plant for frosty mornings because there is so much surface area on the seed heads to hold frost crystals. By the time I found some plants, the sun was getting pretty high and I had to work quickly before all the frost melted away.

Frost is fun anytime, but the first couple frosts of the season are usually my favorites because plants are still holding on to a lot of their seeds and leaves. An early frost that hits while wildflowers still have blossoms is incredible for photography, too, though not so great for the plants themselves. This year, I only found a couple gumweed flowers that still had petals. Everything else had already gone to seed.

Regardless of the photography, it felt good to bundle up and venture out into cold weather. That experience will get old before spring, but for now, it felt refreshing and new. Now we wait for snow…