Macro Some Christmas Day Snow Crystals

Some Christmas Day Snow Crystals · **4 Likes**

Hope you'll have an enjoyable Christmas despite these trying times.

This morning it was -4C with some snow falling. Not the best conditions for perfect symmetrical crystals but I thought these were still quite pretty despite their imperfections, and rime coating.

Hope you like them.

These were shot with the 4X Amscope objective.

And these with a 10X Nikon Achromatic Finite Conjugate objective.

bogdan255 · 12-25-2020, 09:28 AM

I love this! Great details!

sergeremy · 12-25-2020, 09:53 AM

The more asymetrical (or 'imperfect') ones are particularly interesting to the (my) eye...

Photogoof · 12-25-2020, 10:35 AM

How incredibly beautiful.

bladerunner6 · 12-25-2020, 04:58 PM

Awesome extreme macro.

**Michail_P** · 12-25-2020, 05:01 PM

Sometimes beauty lies in the imperfections. Nice set of photos.

aitrus3 · 12-26-2020, 10:12 AM

Awesome details. Well done!

**fwwidall** · 12-26-2020, 04:53 PM

Thanks for the kind comments.

I got some very strange crystals this evening. They appear to be water droplets which froze on their way down. They were approx 0.75mm across.

I've never seen anything like this before in 15 years of shooting snowflakes.

This one got beat up on its journey.

**dipo 1** · 12-27-2020, 02:14 PM

Wow great pics how do you keep them from melting while setting up the pic?

**fwwidall** · 12-27-2020, 05:31 PM

Originally posted by dipo 1

Wow great pics how do you keep them from melting while setting up the pic?

Thanks.

I work in my unheated garage. I don't start working unless the temperature is -5C (23F) or colder, preferable around -10C (14F). At -5C you can watch the the snowflakes sublimating in the viewfinder.

Usually I get my best shots on very cold, windless days when just a few flakes are coming down. The crystals are more symmetrical, and not damaged from collisions. The conditions up in the clouds are what determine kind of crystals occur.

Here's a diagram showing what one can expect to see from Ken Libbrecht's excellent SnowCrystals.com website

http://www.snowcrystals.com/science/Snowflake%20Morphology2.jpg

Fred.

aitrus3 · 12-27-2020, 06:21 PM

Originally posted by fwwidall

Thanks for the kind comments.

I got some very strange crystals this evening. They appear to be water droplets which froze on their way down. They were approx 0.75mm across.

I've never seen anything like this before in 15 years of shooting snowflakes.

This one got beat up on its journey.

Cool! I've not see spheres like this either!
I have a lot of success freezing everything I use to work with the snowflakes. -5 is easy to shoot in for me, -1 gets to be a challenge. Mind you, I am outside. I had issues even at -20 in my unheated garage, them sublimating a lot faster than they should have.

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12-25-2020, 09:28 AM	#2
bogdan255 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Suceava Photos: Gallery Posts: 276	I love this! Great details!

12-25-2020, 09:53 AM	#3
sergeremy Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Périgueux Posts: 733	The more asymetrical (or 'imperfect') ones are particularly interesting to the (my) eye...

12-25-2020, 10:35 AM	#4
Photogoof Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Prague Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,422	How incredibly beautiful.

12-25-2020, 04:58 PM	#5
bladerunner6 Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 2,080	Awesome extreme macro.

12-25-2020, 05:01 PM	#6
Michail_P Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Kalymnos Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,006	Sometimes beauty lies in the imperfections. Nice set of photos.

12-26-2020, 10:12 AM	#7
aitrus3 Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Kamloops B.C. Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,432	Awesome details. Well done!

12-26-2020, 04:53 PM	#8
fwwidall Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Waterloo, Ontario Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 276 Original Poster	Thanks for the kind comments. I got some very strange crystals this evening. They appear to be water droplets which froze on their way down. They were approx 0.75mm across. I've never seen anything like this before in 15 years of shooting snowflakes. This one got beat up on its journey.

12-27-2020, 02:14 PM	#9
dipo 1 Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 374	Wow great pics how do you keep them from melting while setting up the pic?

12-27-2020, 05:31 PM	#10
fwwidall Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Waterloo, Ontario Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 276 Original Poster	Originally posted by dipo 1 Wow great pics how do you keep them from melting while setting up the pic? Thanks. I work in my unheated garage. I don't start working unless the temperature is -5C (23F) or colder, preferable around -10C (14F). At -5C you can watch the the snowflakes sublimating in the viewfinder. Usually I get my best shots on very cold, windless days when just a few flakes are coming down. The crystals are more symmetrical, and not damaged from collisions. The conditions up in the clouds are what determine kind of crystals occur. Here's a diagram showing what one can expect to see from Ken Libbrecht's excellent SnowCrystals.com website http://www.snowcrystals.com/science/Snowflake%20Morphology2.jpg Fred.

12-27-2020, 06:21 PM	#11
aitrus3 Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Kamloops B.C. Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,432	Originally posted by fwwidall Thanks for the kind comments. I got some very strange crystals this evening. They appear to be water droplets which froze on their way down. They were approx 0.75mm across. I've never seen anything like this before in 15 years of shooting snowflakes. This one got beat up on its journey. Cool! I've not see spheres like this either! I have a lot of success freezing everything I use to work with the snowflakes. -5 is easy to shoot in for me, -1 gets to be a challenge. Mind you, I am outside. I had issues even at -20 in my unheated garage, them sublimating a lot faster than they should have.