Snowflake

[Caleb Royer]

This snowflake was sitting on a cedar tree during a snow storm. I got my camera a little wet :eek: but all is well.
My macro lens was at MM and I cropped it a little to get rid of the green emptiness on the sides.
It looks better in full quality.

40D
EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro
f/5.6
1/50th
ISO 400
no flash
hand held

Comments welcome.

[Julie Kenward]

That's almost surreal, Caleb. I kept thinking "can't be real" then "that is so real" then "that CAN'T be real" - wonderful! What an extreme close up and something we don't often get to see.

That said, any chance some of the whites are a little bit hot? Have you double checked the histogram to make sure all is well? Just askin' cause they look very close.;)

[Allen Sparks]

Caleb, that is really a great catch of a snowflake...pretty amazing. I agree with Julie that some of the whites look a little hot. I think using a tripod would have really helped this image as hand holding at 1/50 is a challenge - I'm surprised you were able to get it this sharp actually. I'm also noticing some artifacts in the background which may have occurred when you converted this for the web...or perhaps because of the crop.

Still, a neat image that shows the beauty of a tiny object.

[Cindy Mead]

this is amazing.. the contrast of the snowflake against the green stems is quite dramatic. 'art by nature' at it's finest, what a great find Caleb and good job capturing the intricate details :)

[Caleb Royer]

Thanks everybody for the kind words!

Julie, I took this photo along with many others very quickly, I didn't take time to check if everything was just right, I wish I would have.

Allen, The full quality image looks a lot better.

[Charles Wesley]

Caleb,

This photo is awesome. Don't worry about the histogram on this image. Keep on shooting.
Thanks for sharing...
____________________
Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Vida van der Walt]

I'm so jealous Caleb. I have wanted to photograph a snow flake forever but I live in South Africa where snow is scarce. This is a wonderful image and very well captured.:)

[Anita Bower]

Oh my gosh! It never occured to me to use my macro lens to take a photo of a snowflake. What a wonderful idea, and I really like this image. :)