Project 365 - Day 17 - Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

I read an article about focus stacking and shooting snowflakes last year during the winter.  Unfortunately, there was no snow last year to speak of, so I didn't get to try that particular technique.  I have played around with focus stacking on insects - but not had any real success.

Today it was snowing on the way home, so I took this opportunity to get my gear out and start shooting.  Shooting snow is fun.  It's all about catching snowflakes, looking at them with a light, sorting out which ones will make a good picture, and if you don't find any you have to start over.  I put my felt outside for about 1/2 an hour beforehand so it didn't melt the snow.  But it took a long time to get a snowflake that I wanted to shoot - you know, they don't all look alike :-)  So I would shoot a flake, then go inside to test the stacking, come back out and my flake had blown away, melted, or merged with another flake.  It's a test of patience - especially the stacking part ...

I tried a number of different backgrounds and lighting techniques, but I couldn't get it working just right.  The stacking part was getting muddled by the number of exposures I was making, and I could not figure out how to get it to go.  So, I need to work on that part a little bit.

I started straight macro shooting the flakes, and came up with today's image.  I am pretty happy with this image.  The background is blue felt you would get at a craft store.  The snowflake is tiny.

I used my 60mm macro with all three of my kenko extension tubes.  I was pretty much right on top of the flake when I took the shot.

Here's the shot.  I had to crop about half of it out still, even with the extension tubes in place.

60mm focal length, f4 at 0.6 sec, ISO400.  External flash and LED lantern.

And, for those who like to see the setup, here it is.

I'm using my shutter release here to keep the camera still for the stacking and also the long exposure.  The stacking worked out reasonably well, but I am not 100% happy with it.

One thing, when working in the cold, don't bring your camera back inside and then go out again.  You end up fogging everything up.  Especially the mirror.  I shot a bunch of stuff using liveview - something I try not to do... :-)