Snowflakes
Oct 21, 2020 20:45:31 #
Olympus E-M5 II, M.Zuiko 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R, Meike 10mm+16mm macro tubes
It wasn’t very cold, so these melted in 5 to 8 seconds.
It wasn’t very cold, so these melted in 5 to 8 seconds.
Oct 21, 2020 20:49:31 #
Oct 21, 2020 20:53:29 #
Good stuff! Sippyjug gently teased me about shooting snowflakes - looked up some ideas online - apparently a black wool mitten (or, I'd guess a sock) as a landing area apparently gives a bit of time and contrast. They suggest a ring flash - don't know if that appeals to me, I know I don't want to dig out extension tubes. Anyway, Thanks! I'm encouraged by your efforts.
Oct 21, 2020 20:55:21 #
You had to be fast to get the tubes on in time to capture these... Excellent images. I have the tubes and similar lenses, so now there is something else I have to practice! Thanks for sharing - please stay well.
Oct 21, 2020 21:01:36 #
These were landing on a deck rail at a convenient height. Using a piece of fabric would probably cause less contact, so less heat transfer and longer life... but I liked the wood grain background. For some I used autofocus, but for most I fixed the focus and then focused by bending up and down. That way I could move to a flake and frame it before it melted. Of course, some of the nicest ones landed on my black gloves behind the camera!
Oct 21, 2020 21:20:54 #
rsworden wrote:
Olympus E-M5 II, M.Zuiko 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R, Meike 10mm+16mm macro tubes
It wasn’t very cold, so these melted in 5 to 8 seconds.
It wasn’t very cold, so these melted in 5 to 8 seconds.
Great capture. In Vermont a farmer became famous for photographing snow flakes in 1885.
He is called SnowFlake Bently
https://snowflakebentley.com
Oct 21, 2020 21:47:49 #
Oct 21, 2020 22:44:01 #
Longshadow wrote:
I notice you have an Olympus mirrorless. Did you use the focus stacking feature? I use a Lumix G85 for focus stacking and have been trying to have someone showing what other cameras can produce in focus stacking.
I've always wanted the opportunity to shoot snowflakes but live in SoCal and one day whole living in MD I had the idea of trying to shoot snowflakes. Had a cheap camera and no one to ask questions from. I went outdoors where it was snowing, let the camera settle into the outdoor climate. Then let the snowflakes fall onto a black paper. Everything seemed to be the same temperature. I got some snowflakes, but they melted so fast I could barely call them snowflakes.
I still have the desire but there are no snowflakes here. I do appreciate your Snowflake Collection more than most people. I had one chance and blew it!
I have just learned to take tiny Macro shots of bugs and flowers, but I'll have to let you and others in the snow get them for me.
Keep showing snowflakes photos, all I know is reading of them.
Oct 21, 2020 22:57:34 #
I have used focus stacking just a time or two on motionless objects indoors. It takes some time to set up the frame and focus, and with the extremely narrow depth of field it would be difficult. You can see that some flakes are not in focus from front to back - that’s how shallow the DOF is. If I had been able to find one laying flat that I could bend over completely, or if one happened to land at an angle parallel to the lens, they would have been more in focus. I was working on a deck rail about 6” wide, so no way to set up tripod etc. I literally had about 5 seconds to spot one landing close to me, evaluate its quality, move over it, bend in to focus, and snap. Maybe on a larger flat surface, and with a colder temperature to prolong the life of the flakes it would be possible to use stacking.
I’m from Southern California too, visiting family in Minnesota. Now it’s all snowed over, so that was just a lucky flake... er, fluke.
I’m from Southern California too, visiting family in Minnesota. Now it’s all snowed over, so that was just a lucky flake... er, fluke.
Oct 21, 2020 23:06:50 #
Oct 21, 2020 23:35:18 #
rsworden wrote:
He was certainly a master!
My wife is also from Hutchison near St. Paul. Interesting. I live in the Sonora Desert in So Cal. I tell my MD friends that we have snow all year but we spell it 'Sand'. It doesn't melt and run down car windows, rather it pits the car windows year round. We have 'Snow Plows' but call them 'Sand Plows'. Get it?
This is the same problem you and I had–<I literally had about 5 seconds to spot one landing close to me, evaluate its quality, move over it, bend in to focus, and snap.> I used anything to get the weather colder but couldn't get anything to keep the snowflakes last longer. I gave up and you endured. That's the makes you the Master.
When you figure out how to use the Download feature let me know the secret.
Oct 22, 2020 08:05:20 #
canonclicker wrote:
I notice you have an Olympus mirrorless. Did you u... (show quote)
Not me, but the OP.
Oct 22, 2020 08:49:41 #
PixelStan77 wrote:
Great capture. In Vermont a farmer became famous for photographing snow flakes in 1885.
He is called SnowFlake Bently
https://snowflakebentley.com
He is called SnowFlake Bently
https://snowflakebentley.com
I read a book about him and have one of his pictorial books. Very interesting.
Oct 22, 2020 10:31:02 #
Oct 22, 2020 11:31:24 #
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