“As the deep cold of January takes hold, the world is transformed, but not diminished” – Ed Lehming

This haunting image was made along the roadside in Ontario’s Prince Edward County. The island/peninsula location in south-eastern Ontario is made up on a thick layer of limestone. It’s the limestone that creates the interesting ridges that the water flows from and then freezes as it encounters the cold air. Limestone is also extremely porous, so offers an easy place for groundwater water and surface runoff to accumulate and flow through.

The ice-fall section that I chose to photograph is part of a larger exposed rock-cut which was almost completely covered in ice. I chose this section because it had the most interesting structure and the light was playing particularly nicely in this part of the overall structure.

The image is only one of several scenes involving ice that I shot that day. The ice along the shores of lake Ontario had begun to form in earnest over the past few days of very cold temperatures (-15C). It makes photography a bit challenging as leaving my hands exposed in the wind and low temperatures makes it extremely uncomfortable after only a few minutes.

It is pretty incredible how the simple act of freezing can transform a scene to something completely wonderful, but you have to be willing to brave the elements to enjoy much of that transformation.

iPhone 12 Pro @ 4.2 mm
1/1900 sec, f/1.6, ISO 32