Fire and Ice

This is the shot I chickened out of taking last night as the temperature had fallen to a numbing -11oC.

Well this morning the temperature had increased to a positively balmy -8oC so I felt able to stop and expose myself, camera and tripod to the elements and wade through 12+ inches of snow to get to a vantage point above Grangemouth to get this shot of the flames, steam and snow in the early morning light....best viewed LARGE.

As well as getting the shot I gained an appreciation for the following two cold weather facts:

1) Those foam rubber 'leg warmers' they put around tripod legs really do work...try holding an aluminium tripod leg in these temperatures without them and you soon see why!

2) Hot coffee from a flask doesn't always defrost you windscreen washer jets! Couldn't work out why my washer fluid wasn't coming out (as I had intentionally used neat fluid to stop it freezing) until I read the bottle label '...use neat for frost protection down to -5oC'. I think I'll have to go find some Siberian branded washer fluid instead!