5 Tips for Snowflake Macro Photography

[@MicaelWidell]

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[@skeeterarnold9189]

Great shots 👏 My 2 cent tip: I have found that using a surface material with longer threads helps elevate the flakes off of the surface for a less distracting background. For example: fleece has very short, tightly packed fibers and wool has taller, less packed fibers. When the flakes land on fleece, they are usually being held up by several fibers very close to the surface. When they land on wool, they usually are being held up by 1 or 2 fibers that hold it up off of the surface. I hope this makes sense and is of some help. 😊

[@jakesmacronature]

This is great advice! I noticed my shots were very busy and the snowflake didn't stand out well. I'll try this next time, thanks.

[@abbinding9476]

I had to take a photography class for college a few years ago, and sense getting my canon rebel t7i, Ive taken a great interest in macro photography. A snowflake is something I’ve always wanted to photograph, this video was very helpful and I hope I can get some great shots this winter 💙❄️

[@christophermartin7973]

The best I've seen at taking snowflake shots is Don Komarechka and he has multiple videos and resources for taking great snowflake shots. You've probably seen him already but just in case you didn't I wanted you to be aware of him. Love your work and thanks for the videos!!

[@guybob548]

Another Subject on the Macro Bucket List!!! Thank You for the Video!

[@elliotmarks06]

I've been trying to get snowflake photos for a few years, but have never been super successful. I'll try out your tips next week when we get some snow! Your shots are absolutely amazing, thanks for the video!

[@jakesmacronature]

I wasn't able to get good shots either when I first started macro photography but eventually, you learn what the best gear is and practice different techniques with lighting, editing, and patients haha

[@fwwidall]

Michael, my technique is to collect the snowflakes on a glass plate and illuminate them from below for a totally different look. I use microscope objectives mounted on a bellows to get high magnification, although enlarger lenses also work well. I have lots of images over on Flickr in my 'Snowflakes' album if you'd care to see them. Fred.

[@SchaPicShow]

I love how you speak! I'm à swiss french and i understand everything 😍 Your videos are wonderful ❤

[@genevievelaurin3860]

Thanks for the tips! I was secretly glad to see you don't use a tripod for these shots. I must say, I don't have much patience with tripods, especially for shots that demand this level of fine focusing. I don't know if this will be useful to anyone, but for my previous experiments with snowflakes, I used black trays or containers as backgrounds. They provide a flat surface without any distractions, other than the occasional smudge or dust particle. As for lighting, I think I will experiment with my annular flash for my next try.

[@lorddryp]

Great shots, snowflakes look wonderful. Thanks for the video.

[@AndreMonz]

Thanks for this content Micael! Your video gave me hope that I may, for the first time in my life, see snow on my next trip.

[@ArcticGator]

Way back in 2016 i did a setup much like that using an olympus camera, the olympus 40-150mm kit lens and the raynox dcr-250, the only difference is i waited until the snow was falling very lightly, very cold weather and no wind, had my setup in the yard and just waited until individual flakes fell on a platform i had setup using another camera tripod, i didn't use the flash though, i really need to try it again with my new camera and an older adapted 300mm lens, i like that camera hood you are using that covers most of the camera, i used a big hat for that.

[@jakesmacronature]

I love doing snowflake photos but it's always so tough to stay out in the cold for so long haha you are always dependent on the weather too! Even though it's snowing it might not be formed snowflakes. I've been using an off camera flash to get different variations in lighting.

[@marinazuluaga3317]

Tus macro fotografias son verdaderas obras de arte. Felicitaciones

[@crimsonx6775]

droplets and snow hope to see these more on macro Thank you for great vid!

[@Lon1an]

Last winter I took a bunch of pictures of snowflakes and they are very similar to the ones you show in the video. There is a guy Görgen Lindmark here in northern Sweden who takes extremely detailed snowflakes but he has much much more magnification.

[@jakesmacronature]

I believe I follow him and yes his photos are amazing! Would love to capture snowflakes like him.

[@loampudl6533]

great video! 👍i really like your channel. you always have some great tips. sadly i don´t have such an awesome macro lens, i use a APSC sensor camera with a 100mm makro and the raynox 250 as you said, and it works decent for me. I use a stepladder where i put a wool sweater (can be a colourful one too, to not always have a black background) on it so i can take pictures upright, and you can lean against the ladder to get more stability. Then I also put a flashlight down with a yellow light to get some more color into the picture. hopefully it will snow soon.

[@jakesmacronature]

Sounds like you have a good setup! Eventually, getting better equipment will help!

[@decopfmacro]

well done!

[@ArcticGator]

Actually just had a thought, maybe using a piece of glass propped on a tripod with a black material underneath? might even be able to use led's to make a backlighting for extra color?

[@duniakecilkoe]

Good tips 👍

[@mohammadel-mohammadi5666]

Hello Micael. Again another amazing video as usual! Can you please make a video on top 5 or 10 macro photography subjects to photograph? Thank you very much!

[@MicaelWidell]

Thanks :) might make such a video someday. I did make one for indoor subjects. Search my name and “macro ideas at home”

[@petemulhearn7787]

I've been trying a Sony 16-70 Zeiss lens with a reverse adaptor on a Sony a6000 using natural light. Took some shots of frost crystals and got some good results. Reversing ring was only £5 on eBay :-)

[@wolfamri]

Thanks for this video, Micael. Would you still recommend the Vallerret gloves? I'm in need for some winter sports photography gloves and was looking at their Tinden model. Thank you!

[@MicaelWidell]

I think they're okay. But this winter I'm going to try thinner gloves, because I think most photography gloves are a bit too bulky and thick, including the Valleret

[@wolfamri]

@@MicaelWidell Thank you. I too prefer thinner gloves, but for some situations I thought I‘ll need warmer ones. Thanks for your honest opinion, much appreciated 🙏🙏

[@EBzerozero]

Nice video. Thx

[@simonw7113]

great video!

[@krukower]

What about ×2 magnification on crop sensor? Do you think it will be enough?

[@joestrahl6980]

What model of the Vallerret gloves are you using? Looked for the name or a link in your description but found none. I know that they have several models so it would be good with some specifics, please.

[@MicaelWidell]

This model is called Hatchet and it is size L :)

[@joestrahl6980]

@@MicaelWidell thanks! And thanks for the snow flakes. When we had snow here in Skåne a month ago the flakes were big and wet, it didn't last many days ...but maybe next time.

[@Bytesmiths]

I assume the Laowa is manual focus. Do you see any benefit to auto focus for this sort of macro shooting? Also, have you ever tried using crossed polarizers for this sort of macro? Thanks for the tips!

[@MicaelWidell]

Autofocus is out of the question for 5x magnification macro photography. No such lenses exist. Either way, I prefer manual focus for macro photography - I find it easier. I did not yet try crossed polarizers, might do in the future.

[@momchilyordanov8190]

I've heard Inuits have over 50 words for snow. How many words for macro snowflakes do Swedes have? 🙃

[@mojmakroswiat-mymacroworld2959]

I would use a tripod with a sled. The hand does not move and it is stable. Greetings from Poland, Cracow.

[@johnmclean7852]

You forgot to mention, don’t breathe on the snow flake.

[@jakesmacronature]

Haha I made the mistake of doing this myself the one time I did snowflake shots 😅

[@monztermovies]

Go to your local college, you’ll find plenty of snowflakes to photograph that will be much more cooperative than those 🤣🤣🤣 - Great vid! 👍

[@RosenphotoDC]

Why not try a focusing rail on a tripod? The snowflakes aren’t going to fly away…

[@MicaelWidell]

My patience would not be able to handle that kind of setup 😅