The clear globe with frost patterns caught my eye. I had to do a double-take. Just what was I seeing? Patterns of frost were wrapping a clear ball that was perched on top of snow. Fun shades of color—gold, indigo, violet, purple, blue, a touch of teal, a hint of white—revealed the delicate textures of the frost patterns. Hmmm.
Don Komarechka was at it again! I have been fascinated by his work recording the intricate details of snowflakes, but this time frost crystals were his focus—and on a unique surface to boot. I’d have to take a peak.
Soap bubbles—of course! I chuckled. What will Mr. Komarechka think up next?
To try this myself, I used my black Plexiglas as a surface. I thought maybe I’d get fun patterns plus their reflection. The reality is that my bubbles went flat on the bottom, lacking the beautiful sphere shape.
To make the bubble soap, Mr. Komarechka uses six parts water, two parts liquid dish soap, and one part white corn syrup.
This photography works best when the temperature is cold—preferably between 15° and 0° F (-9° to -15° C). Bubbles freeze quickly, so you will need to work quickly. I used a constant light source to illuminate the bubble so I could focus rapidly, then used a macro flash attached to the end of my lens to illuminate the bubble during the actual photograph.
Mr. Komarechka uses a bright flashlight fixed behind a Fresnel lens for his photography. The Fresnel lens focuses the light on his bubbles. By using a straw, he can carefully create and place a bubble where he wants it to be, on snow in the shaft of light coming from his flashlight.
Get creative. Consider using colored gels over your light source to creatively light the bubbles. When you really want to get creative, try cross-polarization of light. A linear polarizing sheet in front of your light source coupled with a circular polarizer on your camera lens can create interesting lighting. Experiment with the circular polarizer angle to see how turning it affects the lighting on the soap bubble.
Maybe you aren’t interested in photography but would like to watch frost patterns grow. I suspect a pocket magnifying glass, bubble soap, cold weather, and a little experimenting might provide some interesting observations. I haven’t tried that, but I would like to.
