Ice Shooting - Tips?

I went out specifically looking for ice to take pictures of yesterday. Lo and behold, I found some fantastic ice. Unfortunately, I was having trouble getting a good photo out of it. The stream I found was only partially frozen, which made for some very interesting ice structures, but also for some very difficult photography. I tried to get down on the level of the ice, but even with a gorilla pod flat out, I had to sacrifice some comfort (in the form of warm, dry knees) to see my LCD display and get the shot in focus. The worst part was that it didn't even turn out particularly good. So I didn't classify any of my exposures from that viewpoint as "keepers" and finalize them.


So I'm asking for not only a critique of what could be done to make this photo better (it's my best photo from the shoot, but it's not particularly great), but what I can do to get better pictures of the ice in general. I know the interest of the subject is there; it's just presenting a unique challenge as far as how to photograph it. Suggestions?






click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr


P.S. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!