[jac]

By the way, most of the questions you asked are answered in the book.

It is a great little book, too! Both from the perspectives of technique and the science behind snowflake creation. And welcome to the forum, Don. I envy you that Canon lens

[donkom]

Thanks Ron, I'm not a huge fan of freezing cold snowstorms myself, but when you can gather snowflake photos two feet from the warmth and comfort of home - it's not so bad.

Thanks for mentioning those stamps Jim. The photographer, Ken Libbrecht, also wrote the foreward to my book. A great guy, and he has done plenty of meaningful scientific research in the area of snow crystals. He's also published quite a few books on the subject himself!

Thanks jac, I appreciate the vote of confidence! The lens is definitely a unique piece of equipment, and also incredibly difficult to use. I have known some people to use adapters to mount it on non-Canon camera bodies, which works better that you'd think because the lens does not focus. The aperture blades can be locked in place using the DoF Preview button on a Canon camera body, and you're set! However, it would be horribly inconvenient to change your aperture settings after the fact!

[mee]

Don, thank you for sharing all of the information on macro shooting. I've picked up several missing pieces to the puzzle through your sharing! I even created a snoot out of a pringles can and wax paper as you showed in a yt video - works very well!!

After reading your tips and watching some of your videos, my first project was making a massive image of a US penny.. 61 images (3-4 in each focus stacked location).. it's super flawed but really opened my eyes to the process - I'm now trying more panorama, focused stacked subjects. fun!

[donkom]

Hah, that's awesome mee! Glad I could help.

macro panoramas can be incredibly tricky, I've only done a few myself but the details are just incredible. It's a fascinating world if you look close enough!

Oh, and I just started up my "Snowflake-a-Day" project on G+ again. Today is day #2, and for 100 days in total I'll be posting a new snowflake picture every day. Check out out! https://plus.google.com/+DonKomarechka/posts

- Don

[mee]

Don, I have one more question (actually I have a ton but one pressing one) -- did your Grandma make that mitten? That is the missing piece to this whole process.. I need a fancy black mitten!!!

[donkom]

Yep, my Grandma made the mitten - and she's quite proud of what I've accomplished with it! I'd be happy to answer any and all snowflake or mitten-related questions.

[mee]

Ok you might find this funny.. but is it made out of cotton yarn? It is funny to say but I think it might be the ideal platform for capturing snowflakes.. from your work, I can see that there are little fibers that bend around and 'grab' the snowflakes.. which keeps some of them exposed to the colder air... as well as positioning them better for photographing.

With respect to snowflakes.. how do you get one snowflake out of the bazillions that are falling at any given time? Do you have to shoot at a certain time with optimal (read slow) snow fall rate? Tweezers? Toothpicks to move them? I think you brushed on this (no pun intended) on one of the yt videos but I would like to know.

Also, that MPE lens goes up to 5x over 1:1 -- I can achieve roughly similar magnification with my cobbled together setup (28mm prime reversed onto 105mm macro on 68mm extension tube stack) , but the whole setup is unwieldy! It makes for an extremely narrow DoF to the point it becomes nearly impossible to hand hold. I believe you stated most of your images are 2-3x which is still pretty difficult (without the reversed prime I get around 2x) to focus. I know you hand hold your shots.. so how are you shooting your snowflake subjects with such a magnification; I mean is there a certain pattern you've found works best for you in taking the shots? left to right, top to bottom? right to left, bottom to top? let the burst mode rip and just shoot around all over the place?

Are there special breathing techniques? I almost feel like an Olympic marksman trying to shoot hand held photos at such magnifications as I tend to hold my breath and wait for my normal hand movement pattern to glide over to where it needs to be.. hehe

OK one last one.. your largest magnification image of a snowflake on your wall... at what magnification is that? Obviously that has to be panorama'd but I'm wondering were you using 5x and hand holding to get it?

It is a treat to get so many tips from someone so well versed in the art.. I really do appreciate all the time you spend answering questions and sharing of your work! Thanks again! :c )

[donkom]

Hah, yes it's a cotton yarn, or something very similar. The fibers work in my advantage, even though I have to clean up the background in most of the images. The black colour offers contrast, the fibers lift away the mitten from a solid and overbearing background, but the best advantage is the one you mentioned. The fibers of the mitten only make contact with the snowflake at a few points, making for a great insulator from ambient heat. This keeps the snowflake from melting quickly! I use a small paintbrush to nudge the snowflake around a bit to get the right angle, and the fibers of the mitten work well with this too.

The best snowfalls are those with lighter accumulation and very little wind - this tends to generate bigger crystals, though smaller ones can be equally as beautiful. The snowflakes fall directly onto the mitten and from there I position myself overtop to snap the image. I'm blocking a lot of the snow with my own body, so the crystal I'm currently photographing is less likely to get smothered by other falling snow.

Hah, yes the MP-E is probably the most difficult lens to you use in any modern camera system. With extension tubes, I can get roughly 6:1 magnification. The trick is not quite as you'd imagine, but rather getting a perfectly linear forward and back motion to pass through the focal plane. This is done by grabbing the end of my ring flash with my left index finger and thumb, and gently nudging the whole camera forward and back while most of the camera's weight is supported by my right hand. My left hand is also resting on the table the mitten sits on, giving me a solid anchor point for stability.

It can be difficult to get the snowflake in the frame, and also a bit tricky to get the right angle of light to have a reflective surface. It takes practice! Same for breathing, but the only concern there is not to breathe on your snowflakes.

As for the big focus-stacked panorama I have on my wall, I think the magnification was somewhere around 4:1, handheld. I chose a framing that would capture roughly 1/3 of the crystal at a time, giving me the needed overlap for panorama stitching. I've only done panorama shots like this a handful of times, and most often it's just to add an extra branch into the frame.

Hope these tips continue to be of use!

[mrNewt]

Very nice results!
MX-1 project!?

[Nass]

When it finally snows this year in England, I must give this a try Note of caution though, as far as I know MPE does not play nicely on a Pentax cam, sadly, because of the registration distance.

But, great news for us Pentax folk, there's a cheaper solution, just a kit 50-200 with a couple of stacked Raynoxes - see Raynox Adapter Techniques which will get you to 6:1 and north. Not the same optical quality but probably good enough if you just want to give it a whirl.

The really expensive bit is the ringflash although I must say the af160fc is an outstanding piece of kit, with modelling lights, variable lighting and a nice range of mode options - see Pentax AF160FC Ringflash Review.

[Doundounba]

Thanks to the participants in this thread, and especially donkom!

Reading this thread encouraged me to try some snow macro last night. The conditions were perfect, with large flakes falling gently at the end of a large snowstorm, and about -12C temperature.

I didn't try single flake shots, I just wanted to see how the snow looked as it was piling up. Fortunately, the back porch has a staircase and railings that make for narrow surfaces where you can shoot the top edge of the accumulating snow without having more snow as the background to your shot. I used my Tamron 90mm F/2.8 macro, 50mm of tubes, and a Raynox 250. Together these produce an image that's about 9mm across on the APS-C sensor of my K-01, or about 2.6:1. I shot handheld, using the onboard flash with my homemade Pringles telescoping flash diffuser.

These might not be book-worthy, but they're not bad for a first attempt, if I may say so myself...

(Shots cross-posted to the K-01 forum.)