This week, New Jersey is experiencing the coldst temperatures yet this winter, but we remain free of any lasting snow from recent lows and fronts. A year ago, we had a similar episode of extreme cold, and I awakened with the bedroom window ablaze with sunshine filtering through a solid sheet of frost. Still half asleep, I fetched my camera and took a string of pictures while the warming rays melted this fantastic pattern before my eyes. Two minutes later, it was all gone.

Visually, the frost was too brightly illuminated to see any beauty, but the camera automatically exposed as if average, and the result was filled with detail. I recall doing nothing more than cropping and a wee bit of contrast control. The color is as it really was.

To me, it looks like a garden of ferns. I have left it large to preserve the effect. If you need a little more room, try toggeling the F11 key for a full screen. Tilting the vertical angle of your LCD monitor will alter the contrast.