Snowflakes

Lord Vetinari

Had some fun yesterday trying to photograph freshly fallen snowflakes. I was suprised how 3-dimensional they all were rather than the flat crystal shapes you see in texts. One even came down as a mini snowball.
All taken at 5:1 and focus stacked by hand or using zerene stacker

Brian V.

Paul Iddon

The last one is terrific Brian!


Paul.

Llywellyn

Wow! Love these, Brian! The detail is beautiful.

DeVil

Nice, Brian

cr8ingwaves

the last two would be awesome as a Christmas/Holiday greeting card ! really cool captures.

Subanu

These are some amazing captures. 3 and 4 are top shelf...

Lord Vetinari

Thanks for the comments all - appreciated

micknewton

Nice shots, Brian.

What gear did you use for these? You said they were taken at 5:1, does that mean you used a Canon MP-E 65mm lens, or something else?

We got a little snow recently and I tried to get some shots of snowflakes, but my setup (Canon 100mm f/2.8 and the Canon 12mm and 25mm extension tubes) didn't provide enough magnification to get full-frame shots of individual snowflake crystals. Besides, it wasn't cold enough that day (about 30° f) and the snowflakes were huge (1/2" or more) -- more like large conglomerates of snow crystals.

PDRJohn

Very "cool". I was trying to get shots of the heavy frost this morning, not easy to stack.

Seeing the shots you do inspires me to keep working at it.

Lord Vetinari

Thanks for the comments Mick and PDRJohn

Mick - Yes I was using an MPE-65 lens. You could try reversing a 50mm lens onto the front of your 100mm lens - that will give you around 3:1 magnification.

Brian V.

micknewton

Yes, I think that will be my next step. I already have a Canon 50mm f/1.8 and a 52mm-to-58mm coupler ring in my shopping cart at B&H.

I want to buy an MP-E 65mm lens and a macro ring light some day, but that will have to wait for a while. We've had a lot of unexpected expen$e$ lately and Christmas is just around the corner. I'll be lucky if I can squeeze the 50mm lens and coupling ring out of the boss (aka wife).

Do you use a focusing rail with the MP-E lens? What was your technique for getting these shots?

Agilitypics

These are fantastic pictures!

mark_h

Inspiration, Brian just when thought I would shoot bugs all winter, along come SNOW FLAKES. I looked at these images and got all setup and headed outside, well it was just at freezing so I would line up my snow flake, check everything look back and it was gone. melted. Oh well. Thanks for the motivation. snowed almost 2' since yesterday

GOLDENORFE

they do appear 3d, especially first and last

Lord Vetinari

Thanks for the comments all !
Brian v.

micknewton

Hey Brian, what was your setup for these shots? Did you use a focusing rail, or were they hand-held?

Lord Vetinari

micknewton wrote: »

Hey Brian, what was your setup for these shots? Did you use a focusing rail, or were they hand-held?

Mick - they are handheld but I'm resting the end of the lens on the same surface the snowflakes are on.
Brian V.

micknewton

Lord Vetinari wrote: »

Mick - they are handheld but I'm resting the end of the lens on the same surface the snowflakes are on.
Brian V.

Wow, handheld at 5X magnification!? That is impressive. You must not drink as much coffee as I do. I have a hard time holding still enough at 1:1.

Lord Vetinari

micknewton wrote: »

Wow, handheld at 5X magnification!? That is impressive. You must not drink as much coffee as I do. I have a hard time holding still enough at 1:1.

I'm actually a coffee junkie but only instant coffee - normally have had 3 mugs full before I go out shooting in the morning
Brian v.