Photographing Plants in Suspended Animation

The secret is freezing rain. For as long as temperatures remain below freezing, plants covered in rain that has turned to ice are literally frozen in time. A macro (close-up) lens on a smart phone or camera shows the best detail. I set my camera to automatically focus bracket and stack the images. In plain English, this means taking several frames at different points of focus, then stacking them together for maximum sharpness within a single image.

Plants after a freezing rain

A plant stem and buds encased in ice.

Tech talk Camera: OM-1 MkII Lens: 60mm macro (35mm full frame equivalent = 120mm)

ISO: 200

Exposure: 1/125 @ f2.8

Auto bracketing: 16 frames

Processed in Adobe Photoshop

Photos © Gary Crallé

2025