This is my account of how I ’ ve fallen in sleep together with snowflake photography… I ’ ve spent the better separate of my life photographing nature ’ second smallest details. My early years of shooting botanicals finally evolved into my current compulsion with macro worm and spider photography. I ’ ve spend that lapp time running from the cold.
I ’ m what some may call a “ fair weather ” photographer. A “ ardent season ” photographer. A “ give me 95°F and 80 % humidity and I ’ ll still be out chasing bugs ” kind of photographer. I am decidedly not a winter photographer. Besides, other than the periodic bamboozle flea, there aren ’ t precisely tons of insects and spiders out braving Ohio ’ sulfur winters. For years, friends and family encouraged me to try my bridge player at photographing snowflakes. And for years, the estimate intrigued me but I couldn ’ triiodothyronine get past the genial double of me fumbling around with my camera and freeze fingers. Until now. last summer, I discovered a part of television camera equipment that changed my photography. I ’ ve been shooting macro with the invert lens proficiency for many years, but using a 50+-year-old lens with a manual aperture ring has its limitations. My camera couldn ’ triiodothyronine communicate with my lens and, though I use my camera in manual of arms, shooting with a stopped down aperture resulted in not always being able to see my subject clearly at ƒ/11 ( my macro sweet spotlight ) – it was excessively colored. person recommended I look into a particular reverse lens adapter and let me tell you, it was a game-changer. Though I didn ’ thymine get the claim model recommended ( it was $ 500+ ), I did find an alternate for around $ 100. Enter the Vello Macrofier Reverse Mount Adapter. Finally, I could see what I was shooting distinctly in my finder ! summer 2017 was my best year so far for macro insect and spider photography. I found and photographed more “ new-to-me ” bugs than ever before. then came the cold weather. Like every year before, I wallowed in sadness as Ohio ’ s winter cool overcame my beautiful local arboretum. Ice, snow, and crisp wind kept me huddled inside my warm home, my television camera buried away in a cabinet. Until one day, I got the overpower urge to go outside and photograph snowflakes. I have no idea what evil emotional state possessed me to go outdoor in single-digit temperatures, but I did, but not before crafting a improvised “ snowflake studio ” from a formative food storage container and a piece of glass from a little picture frame. I completed the studio apartment by crumpling pieces of biased construction paper and placing them inside the container, under the glass plate. I tossed my “ studio ” on my front porch for ten minutes to cool down earlier bundling up and stepping outside.
My Equipment, Technique, and Process
My “ snowflake studio ” was made from a little fictile food repositing container with a small glass home plate taped to the clear. I placed color construction paper in the container to create a pastel background. It ’ s not very glamorous, but it ’ mho what I had available and it works amazingly well .
I use the Vello Macrofier Reverse Mount Adapter to reverse ride my Canon EF-S 24mm ƒ/2.8 lens to my Canon 70D. The Vello adapter retains electric connectivity between my television camera and lens, allowing me to look through the finder with a completely afford aperture, resulting in a bright and clear view of my topic. 
I use my television camera ’ second built-in flare for lighting. I pair the flash with the Graslon Spark flash diffuser to diffuse the harsh light. I ’ ve placed two sheets of polystyrene in the Graslon Spark for extra diffusion. 
I tend to shoot with the pursue settings : ISO 200, ƒ/11, 1/250. Shooting at ƒ/11 provides equitable enough depth to get clear snow bunting shots. hera are the results !
Read more: 4K Video & 4K Camera: What is It?
Along the means, I ’ ve learned some helpful hints :
1. It ’ s important to set your looking glass plate outside 10-15 minutes before you intend to shoot to allow the glass to cool enough so the snowflakes don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate immediately melt when hitting the plate 2. Depending on the rate of snow, your looking glass plate will need to be cleaned often. I started cleaning my glass by unceremoniously wiping it on my pants. This technique worked quite well to clean the plate, but it warmed the glass adequate to immediately melt all the snowflakes that landed on it for about a minute. You ’ ll need to let the glass cool toss off again, and by that time, you may need to clean it again resulting in a ceaseless cycle of houseclean melted snow off your plate. I found using a clean composition towel worked better since it didn ’ thyroxine warm the looking glass as much, but the issue with this proficiency is that, because it doesn ’ t warm the methamphetamine, it smears bamboozle across the glass home plate, resulting in freeze smears all over the glass. vigorous friction ( but not besides vigorous, because come on, it ’ second hush glaze ) seemed to do the magic trick to remove all snow while keeping the glass cool enough to continue shooting quickly. 3. Many of your shots will end up with “ snowflake debris ” around your basal subject. You can well remove these pieces of debris through the lasso and content-aware fill tools in Photoshop. I used the clone tool to remove extra dust spots, imperfections in the glass, and debris left from the paper towel. 4. I suggest playing around with different colors and textures of composition you use for your snow bunting studio backdrop ( or other materials you ’ d like to try ). I have developed a expressive style of bright and pastel backgrounds in my shots ( even for insects and spiders, when possible ), indeed I ’ ve choose to retain that stylus, despite others ’ suggestions to use a black setting. Get creative and wear ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate be afraid to try something newly ! 5. Depending on outside temperatures, I recommend investing in a warmly pair of gloves that allow enough mobility to operate your television camera. I ’ ve used hand warmers in my gloves and they are awkward and don ’ triiodothyronine keep my fingers super warm. I ’ m still looking for the arrant solution. 6. Like my insect and spider photography, I shoot snowflakes handheld ( I hate using a tripod ). I hold my camera in my correct pass and my “ snowflake studio apartment ” in my left hand. I balance the weight of my television camera on my left wrist while shooting. This provides the constancy I need for sharply shots. Yes, it seems awkward, but it works ! 7. With the constant clean, my glass home plate finally fell off the formative container to which it was taped ( fortunately, it didn ’ metric ton break ). I continued shooting by placing the container with colored person construction paper on my porch and holding the glaze plate at varying heights over the container. I liked this better than holding the stallion container with the glaze plate attached. It was easier to maneuver the setup and easier to clean. Again, try unlike techniques until you find something that works and feels comfortable .
You ’ ll notice the vastly different shapes and sizes of snowflakes. I ’ m not a meteorologist so I can ’ triiodothyronine talk to the skill of snow bunting constitution, but I ’ ve noticed some distinct differences in snowflake shapes and sizes depending on the external temperature. In warm temperatures ( 25-30°F ), the snowflakes are more geometric with polished edges. 
In cooler temperatures ( < 10°F ), the snowflakes were larger and more sprawl in design. 
It ’ south fun to experiment in different temperatures to see how snow bunting shapes and sizes differ. If you ’ d like some extra and far more detailed information about snow bunting formation, I recommend checking out this scientific american english article .
While I ’ m inactive playing and perfecting my proficiency, I ’ m so activated to have found macro subjects to keep my love for photography alive all class. I ’ ve fallen in love with snow bunting photography so much that I may just move to a snowy-all-year kind of place… I jest. now, I ’ thousand craving snow and I never thought I ’ vitamin d be sad to say adieu to winter. But alas, one day the insects and spiders will return and I ’ ll be back to chasing bugs. But for now, I ’ ll remain happy ( elated, tied ) to chase snowflakes. About the author : Danae Wolfe is a macro nature photographer residing in NE Ohio. Her primary artistic interests include shooting candid insect & botanic portraits. You can find more of her work on her web site, blog, and Facebook page. This mail was besides published hera.
