The ground dips between my house and the neighbours. Nestled in the shadow of the cedar line between my house and the road, a patch of fine bladed grass begins to drip with the melting of an autumn frost.

With a combination of water droplets and sparkling shards of ice, two states of the same substance co-mingling, I set up in the center of the dip and wait for the dawn to peak just a little more over the trees and catch the water. I focus in close, stop down to f/4, f/5.6, and use my elbows as support as I lie on my stomach to get level with the grass. No one else is awake, let alone active; the world is silent and still. It is so much easier when it is like this to slip into the flow and lose all time and space. There is no world outside what I see in the viewfinder. There is no time except what I am waiting for so I can *snap* close the shutter and capture the moment as I see it in my mind, as I perceive as a self.

I was inspired to take this kind of shot by Freeman Patterson and his book Photography and the Art of Seeing. Therein are some phenomenal shots of frost and light, as well as many other works worthy of adoration and awe. His most poignant works are in Odysseys: Meditations and Thoughts for a Life's Journey, a book that you should pick up as soon as possible.

Of all of my favourite photographers, Freeman Patterson is the utmost. His work and his life have fascinated me since I was 13 (getting a Ph.D. and going on to become one of the most influential nature photographers in the world, winning countless prestigious awards and touring the U.S and Canada giving seminars and audio-visual shows of his work, as well as giving guided tours in South Africa and New Brunswick), and have been the single largest influence on my work. I wholeheartedly encourage everyone on this site to visit his site as well and spend some time in the realm of one of the Great Masters and Painters of Light: www.freemanpatterson.com.