Frosty Rhine Morning: Patrick Hübschmann's Frost-Covered Willows

On one freezing morning along the Rhine in southern Germany, every tree, twig and blade of grass turned white. German photographer and graphic designer Patrick Hübschmann walked the riverbank and photographed the result: willows that look woven from pale thread, hanging over dark, still water.

Patrick Hübschmann's "Frost" series

Hübschmann first shared the photographs on Behance under the simple title "Frost". In March 2013 the art and design site Colossal featured five of them, describing trees and grass "completely covered in a thick layer of frost" and the uncanny stillness of each frame.

The pictures work through contrast. The frost turns every branch into a bright line, and the river behind supplies a dark background, so the finest twigs stand out as clearly as a pen drawing. Along the bank, the repeated shapes of pollarded trees set a slow rhythm.

How hoar frost forms on trees

Hoar frost grows on cold, clear, calm nights. Branches, wires and grass lose heat to the open sky faster than the air can warm them, and they cool below the frost point. Water vapour in the air then turns straight into ice on their surfaces, without passing through a liquid stage. Undisturbed, the crystals keep growing into the white, feathery coating that gave the frost its name: "hoar" comes from an Old English word for the grey-white of old age.

Cold air also drains into valleys and hollows, so a river valley can be white with frost while the air a few metres higher stays above freezing. Rime is a close relative: it forms when supercooled water droplets, often in wind or fog, freeze onto surfaces, and it looks more solid and icy than the delicate feathers of hoar frost.

The Rhine in southern Germany

The Rhine runs about 1,230 km from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea, through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands. In southern Germany it flows out of Lake Constance as the High Rhine, forming much of the border with Switzerland for about 150 km and passing the Rhine Falls, before turning north at Basel into the Upper Rhine Plain, a valley about 300 km long and up to 40 km wide.

Photographing frost and reflections

Compare each tree with its reflection. Above the bank, the branches overlap against the sky and the far shore; below, the dark water redraws them more softly. A small step to one side can give the reflection equal weight or leave it as a quiet echo.

The same idea works on any frosty morning. Go out early, before the sun melts the crystals, find a frosted branch against a dark background such as water, shade or evergreen trees, and move until its smallest twigs separate cleanly.

Our Jan Bainar forest feature shows frost building up on tree trunks in a forest, and Hidenobu Suzuki’s Mount Fuji images use bare trees and reflections with a much warmer palette.