FREEZE FRAME

Capture the beauty of your garden and the countryside in winter with our expert photography guide

- VANESSA BERRIDGE

The garden is transformed in wintertime, when frost will snag hold of decorative ironwork and flower buds, or create a glistening outline of branches and leaves. The effect is all-too transient, frost crystals melting as the winter sun steals up into the sky. That is why so many photographers love to be out early, capturing plants and the landscape in silvery raiment.

Like all artists, professional photographers see the world in sharper focus, and will translate a frosty seedhead or a lawn into a magical, unexpected image. They will often choose scenes that are backlit, shooting into the sunlight against standard practice, or will give more emphasis to an icy detail by deliberately blurring the background and by playing with the depth of field.

To find out how to create images like the ones on these pages by photographer Annaïck Guitteny, we asked some top photographers for starting points. So, wrap up well, get your eye in and seek out strong shapes and silhouettes in your garden and beyond - you may find yourself taking a winter wonderland of frosty moments.

GET READY TO FOCUS

Landscape photographer Adrian Oakes offers practical advice for getting started.

• Dress for standing still. Layers, a hat, gloves, warm boots and two pairs of socks are essential. Batteries do not last as long in cold weather but can be revived by warmth. Keep spares in an inside pocket, and swap them regularly.
• Head out before sunrise. Once the sun appears, you are on borrowed time, although the frost will last a little longer in shady areas.
• Avoid windy conditions. Everything will move and blur if the exposures are longer.
• Keep an eye out for hoarfrost - the needle-like white ice crystals are worth an early start.

LONG-DISTANCE SHOTS