Living in Canada I see snow from December through end of March. Living in the snowbelt of Ontario means I have the joy of seeing a LOT of snow during those months. Snowflakes are great for combining to make forts, snowmen and snowballs. But today I thought we could learn how to do snowflake photography.
The Anatomy of a Snowflake
Have you ever heard of Snowflake Bentley? He spent his life learning about snowflakes. Bentley is the first person to discover that no two snowflakes are exactly alike. Pretty neat eh? AND part of what makes snowflake photography so much fun. No two pictures will be exactly the same!
Snowflake Photography primer
First off, you need a day when snow is actually falling. If snow isn’t falling you won’t get individual flakes, nor will get crisp edges.
Then you need a contrasting background that you can sweep clean of anything unnecessary.
Use the right camera so you can zoom in to capture details.
Take lots and lots of pictures as fast as possible before the snowflake melts.
Play around a bit, see what you can make work. You might be surprised at what a different background can produce.
The colder it is outside, and the fresher the snow, the better your photos will be.
The settings you put on your camera will depend on the light that you find in your particular situation.
YouTube Snowflake Photography
These two fellows use different cameras and do macro photography!
Huh… did you know that you can get a magnifer for your cell phone and use it to take pictures of a snowflake? Amazing eh? This lady uses a light box and her cell phone.
Resources
My friend took a photography class to practice and learn her skills, so if you can find a class do that! Gives you people contact and some real-life mentors to help you fine-tune your art.
Some resources off Amazon (using affiliate link) that will help you (or inspire you) as you partake in your own snowflake photography.
All images of snowflakes (unless otherwise noted) have been taken by a friend named Susan. Wasn’t she gracious in allowing me to use them?
Want to know about snowflakes and winter based learning? SchoolhouseTeachers.com has a variety of winter-based ebooks and activities to engage your students. Currently on-sale!
Beautiful captures on those snowflakes!
she did a good job eh?
Oh wow ! Thank you for sharing. I really enjoyed looking up the social media account of the first YouTube shared. https://www.instagram.com/donkomphoto/ He has some amazing photographs of snowflakes. It was so good to see just how beautiful they are.
i know eh? just fabulous!