Glistening frost and crisp winter light in focus

Frost, fog and icy morning temperatures have a grip on the capital, but the chill hasn't deterred photographers from braving the elements to snare some fresh winter shots.

Belconnen father-of-three Ian Houghton almost stepped on his subject before noticing the intricate crystals of frost dancing on the head of a fluffy dandelion.

"I was actually out photographing a landscape shot of the sunrise," he said.

"It was about minus 5 that morning and walking back from doing that I saw that dandelion. As the sunlight started to come through the icicles you could see glimmers of orange in frost."

The 54-year-old has got back into photography in the past few years and, while his wife calls it an obsession, he prefers to think of it as a passion.

"I go out probably once or twice a week. I'm out in the morning to get something around one of the lakes," he said.

"You don't get much better than Canberra, you can do sunrises in landscape on the way to work."

In opposition to his serendipitous dandelion snap, Mr Houghton said Fire and Water was one he had envisaged for days.

"Most of my stuff I don't get what I go out for but that one is one I specifically went for," he said. "The sunlight was pouring through the fog in just the right way."

He staked out in prime position on Lake Ginninderra for hours and was pleased with how it turned out.

This week top temperatures will reach 13 degrees, lows are due to remain close to minus 2 degrees until Wednesday and Thursday, when possible showers are predicted.

Brave the cold and send your entries into the The Canberra Times Winter photo competitor for a chance to win a share in $1000 prizemoney.

Send a maximum of three photos to photocomp@canberratimes.com.au by August 31 as attached JPEG files and include your name, address, phone number, photo title, a description of the photo and the date it was taken.

Photos must be at least 150 kilobytes to a maximum of one megabyte.