Frost - 2

[Steve Maxson]

Another example of window frost. This "style" of frost crystal is much less common than the more pointed, fern-like "style" in my previous post. 5D II, MP-E 65mm at 2-3X, 4 sec, f/8, ISO 100, tripod, RRS focus rail, mirror lock, cable release. RAW file processed in CS5 to increase contrast. Additional adjustments in Nik Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro 4 - mostly to enhance contrast. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Don Lacy]

Way cool Steve, love the patterns and how the crystal pops off the black bg

[Jerry van Dijk]

It's amazing what patterns nature can produce! And you are doing a great job at capturing them!.

[Brendan Dozier]

Very cool, Steve, interesting geometric shape and pattern. Black BG works well. Almost looks like some new-fangled semi-conductor of some sort. :S3:

[Norm Dulak]

Very nice Steve. You're making all of us look for interesting things we never thought about before.

Life offers many opportunities, if we only have eyes to see them. Thanks for further opening my eyes. :S3:

[Bob Miller]

Steve...Another beauty...I am enjoying your frost work! Hope to see more! Love the sharpness! Great work!

[Ken Childs]

Hey Steve, it's great the fantastic things you can find on a window! This is a good example of how much is available to macro shooters, even when there aren't any bugs or flowers to be had. It's not just a warm weather shooting style. :S3:

When I first looked at this, I wasn't sure about the lighter areas of the BG right behind the crystal but the more I looked at it, the more I liked it!

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks for the comments, folks!

Ken - I deliberately brightened the central portion of the image a little (using the Darken/Brighten Center filter in NIK Color Efex Pro 4) because I liked that better than the solid dark background for this image. :S3:

[Marina Scarr]

This is some amazing work, Steve. You have really mastered the art of photographing frost!!!

[Julie Kenward]

Love this series, Steve! (I also love that it's February in Missouri and I haven't seen a single flake of snow yet!) I think you could go even sharper here if you wanted...and I think this would lend itself very well to some PS adjustment layers - invert, posterize, for example...and even some of the sketch filters like photocopy and reticulation...you could really take this OOTB if you wanted to.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

That is so fareeking cool. Love it.

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks for the comments Marina, Jules, and Cheryl - and thanks, Jules, for the PS suggestions - I'll have to give those a try. :S3:

[Roman Kurywczak]

Sweeeeeet! It hasn't been cold enough in NJ for me to play this year (not complaining).....but awesome as usual!