Back in 2020, I did a post on photographing flowers frozen in ice. Fast forward to 2023, and with autumn coming on, I decided to try the same thing with autumn leaves. Not having frozen-over lakes here in Australia, I again commandeered the freezer. The turning leaves tell a story of the approaching winter chill and colder nights. Encased in ice, that story added a new level.

The frozen leaves also create interesting patterns and textures in the ice. And a bonus is that leaves in ice can be done in the comfort of your own home without having to brave the cold!

Supplies

Apart from your camera (and you could use a phone camera), you will need the following;

• a plastic container to fit your leaves
• water (tap, distilled or demineralised – all will give different effects)
• an assortment of leaves
• ice cubes.

Look for different shapes and colours of autumn leaves; you can even add some gum nuts or acorns. Both tap, distilled and demineralised water will work. However, demineralised water will be less cloudy than tap or distilled water. However, I have found that tap water also becomes clearer as the ice starts to melt.

Method

Freeze around 5cm (1 inch) of water in your container. When frozen, take the container from the freezer and arrange your leaves on top of the ice.

Next, place a couple of ice cubes on top of each leaf. This will keep them in place and stop them from floating when you add more water. Once you complete step 5, the ice cubes become almost invisible, but they add more detail to the ice block.

Note: With the flowers in 2020, I just added a couple of mm of water to anchor them, but the leaves are much lighter and float, hence the ice cubes hack.

Add a small amount of water to the container,  just a cm or so, to ‘glue’ the leaves into ice when it freezes. Return the container to the freezer

Final step – Take the frozen container from the freezer and top it up with water to cover the leaves by a cm or so. Return to freezer.

Photographing the ice block

Once your block of leaves in ice is frozen solid, it’s time to have some fun. If using a camera, you can use a standard lens or macro. The back (or bottom) of the block is the best side to photograph as the air bubbles start there; it’s also perfectly flat and smooth, and it’s closest to the leaves.

Flash really won’t work with the ice, though you can use soft boxes, paying careful attention to reflections or hot spots. However, I prefer natural light. You can set it up in front of a window with well-diffused light (or outside if you have a good, flat surface). If doing it inside against a window, you need one where the sun isn’t shining directly on the block. Take your block from the freezer, and leave it on the bench for 5-10 mins, allowing it to melt just enough to pop out cleanly or run some cool water over the back of the container, and it will pop straight out.

Setting up the shoot

If photographing inside, place a small table in front of the window, and if using a glass-top table, place a folded paper towel under the block. It will stop it from it sliding. Putting a bath towel or paper towel under the table to absorb the melting water is also a good idea. Stand the block upright on the paper towel so the block is backlit. You can also photograph the leaves in ice straight down with the block on a towel, but the colour of the towel will show through, so give some thought to that. I prefer it upright, so the light brings out all the bubbles and cracks in the ice. It also nicely highlights the leaf veins when backlit.

The weather was a balmy 30C the day I took my shots, so I stood the block on the veranda railing outside. It gave me good filtered light and no mess with the water dripping onto the garden bed below. I ran off some shots and left it for half an hour, shot some more and left it again.

Settings

F11 to F16 will give you the best depth of field

ISO 100-400

Shutter speed – watch the highlights, but if backlighting, overexpose by about 0.7 so your leaves aren’t in shadow.

You will need a longer shutter speed depending on the light in the room, so place your camera on a tripod. However, it’s more important to have a good depth of field than a faster shutter. So stay between F11 and F16 and adjust the shutter speed accordingly. For all images above, I used aperture priority.

Once you have taken enough shots with the solid ice, allow it to melt naturally or speed things up with a hairdryer. You will get different images as it melts and partially exposes the leaves. The detail also comes out in the leaves more as it melts and becomes thinner.

Editing your shots

I edit in Photoshop, but Lightroom’s slider settings are the same. Bring the highlights down to -100, Shadows +25, Texture +30, Clarity +25, Dehaze +16 and Vibrance +50. In Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), you can synchronise the settings across all the images to save having to edit one by one.

Syncing in Lightroom

• Make the changes to your first image either using your favourite preset or the slider suggestions above.
• While the first image is highlighted, click and highlight the other images you want to edit by holding down the SHIFT key (CMD on a Mac) and then clicking on the last image you want to edit.
• Click the Sync button, which is found on the lower right-hand side of the screen at the bottom of the Develop Panels.
• A synchronise settings menu will pop up. Just click Synchronise
• The same settings will be applied to all images.

Syncing in Photoshop ACR

• Adjust the sliders using the settings above or your preferred preset/settings
• Right-click on the image in the filmstrip and click ‘copy edit settings.’
• with the first image still highlighted right, click on the last image in the filmstrip and select “paste edit settings”
• Next, click Open (or open as Object if you prefer to work with smart objects)
• from here, you can edit with your regular workflow

Frozen leaves are a beautiful and fascinating natural phenomenon that occurs naturally during the winter months in colder climates. However, they can still be photographed in warmer climates using the above method. While they may seem simple at first glance, frozen leaves are complex structures with intricate patterns and colours. Whether you’re a nature enthusiast, a photographer, or just someone who enjoys the beauty of winter, frozen leaves are definitely worth exploring and admiring.