Synergistic Snowflakes
by EddyG

Comment by Gordon:
This is awesome - great job. I spent most of last week looking at flakes landing on my gloves thinking about taking a picture - but this is just brilliant - love it.

Be Yourself
by EddyG

Comment by RonB:
One of few, if not the only entry in just black and white. That works wonderfully for this entry. I wish the snowflake was a little less dense. Nice effect with the font and lettering, especially the larger first/last letters. Great quote. Nice job.

Be Yourself
by EddyG

Comment by birgir:
Not best photo I have seen of snowflake but the text add it up. -7

Synergistic Snowflakes
by EddyG

Comment by dsidwell:
I tried and tried to get a similar shot, but just couldn't do it. I'm really impressed that you not only got these snowflakes, Eddy, but that they are so beautiful and so clear. Congratulations on this well deserved ribbon!

Be Yourself
by EddyG

Comment by rich:
Good composition, and a great message.

Synergistic Snowflakes
by EddyG

Comment by stucknhicktown:
Amazing photography. Thanks for sharing the technique as well.

Synergistic Snowflakes
by EddyG

Comment by Gracious:
Eddy, This is really fantastic. A very well deserved win. Congratulations!!!
Regards,

Grayce

Be Yourself
by EddyG

Comment by jackditch:
i felt that your words of wisdom may have ran a little too long, but nonetheless you have a very detailed pic and the idea of "be yourself" and "unique" works well with the snowflake.

Synergistic Snowflakes
by EddyG

Comment by EddyG:
Thanks for all the great comments everybody!

For those who are going to try photographing snowflakes yourself, here are a couple more tips:

1) Keep your glass, fabric, etc. outside. If you have to wait for your "snow catching device" to get to the same temperature as the ambient air, you may lose a good opportunity as the snow will melt instantly if the items are warm.

2) Keep a spare battery in your pants pocket (not your coat pocket). Batteries perform worse in cold weather. Keeping a spare in your pocket will allow you to swap it quickly if necessary, and since your body heat will keep it warm, it should perform much better.

3) Realize that not all snow is good "photography" snow. Sometimes the snow is just "frozen balls of ice" (technically sleet) without any detail, and sometimes the ambient temperature is just too warm for the flakes to last. Snowflakes form when water vapor condenses directly into ice up in the clouds. The beautiful patterns form as the crystal grows. Colder temperatures make snowflakes easier to handle and last longer.

4) Don't breathe on your snowflakes! They will melt from your breath.

5) It is possible to catch snowflakes on something smooth, such as dark-colored foamcore (which makes it easy to see the flakes), and then carefully use a toothpick to move a particular flake to your glass or fabric or whatever.

6) Snowflakes are tiny! You could easily fit 10 or 15 typical snowflakes on a penny! The flakes get bigger as the temperature drops further below freezing, and then they start to get smaller again as the temperature gets even colder.

6) Lighting is the key! Since "clean snow" is nothing more than an ice crystal, it can be as clear as glass.

7) 12-sided snowflakes aren't rare, but they aren't nearly as common as 6-sided snowflakes. You'll never find 4, 5 or 8-sided snowflakes, but you'll occasionally see triangular-shaped 3-sided snowflakes. The uncropped version of my photo also has a 3-sided snowflake in the frame (and no, I did not manipulate the position of the snowflakes at all. It just happened that way!)

Good luck and thanks again for the comments!

Message edited by author 2003-12-30 23:59:21.

Be Yourself
by EddyG

Comment by Kavey:
A lovely motivational message; a really beautiful thought. The image is also very appealing and striking. My preference would be for image to be larger and the text area/ font sizes smaller.