As I became aware of what Kevin was preparing to do when it snowed, I also got inspired to try something new with my snowflake photography. I had never been really satisfied with the overall look of my snowflakes because there were a lot of stark, white edges in them that I wished contained more color. As I considered the changes I could make, the idea of a prism occurred to me. So, I researched prisms and liked what I saw.
I ended up buying a ¾-inch cube prism, and finally got a chance to put it to the test last night just after midnight. The frigid conditions made for some beautiful snowflakes which fell on and off throughout the night.
It’s a very simple process. I capture the snowflakes on a small glass platform, then transport them into my cold garage where my vertical macro rig is set up on a table. I carefully set the platform on top of a lab jack and orient the snowflake directly beneath my camera’s lens (the camera being attached to a focus rail). After I gain sharp focus on the flake, I slide my prism (which I epoxied onto an upside-down glass candlestick holder to raise it up higher) directly under the flake, and begin shooting. I have two speedlights set up to fire up through the prism at different angles, which refract the prism’s colors up into the bottom of the snowflake. The results are colorful snowflakes on interesting backgrounds. The prism itself becomes the blurred-out background, and the colors can be changed by rotating the prism. And so, we have yet another way to showcase our Lord’s magnificent handiwork in his “treasures of the snow.”
Well, friends, Steven wins again. Look at the high quality of the light within the details (p. 13 is a favorite), and then compare that to the photos I took. It’s easy to see the beauty the extra depth of this lighting brings to snowflakes.
—the Editor