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 This image was disqualified from the Minimalism II challenge.
Winter in the Garden (yes, that's a real snowflake)
Winter in the Garden (yes, that's a real snowflake)
scalvert


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Minimalism II (Minimal Editing I*)
Collection: What Was I Thinking?
Camera: Canon EOS-20D
Lens: Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro for Canon
Location: Easton, CT
Date: Jan 23, 2007
Aperture: f/10
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/100
Galleries: Macro, Studio
Date Uploaded: Jan 25, 2007

 This is an actual snowflake on a piece of green felt, and it took me nearly 500 shots to get it!

I set up two strobe lights and a tripod in my sunroom with the windows and door open to keep the room cold. I set a custom white balance on a piece of paper and bracketed the exposures for insurance. The Sigma 105ex and a 20mm extension tube add up to LOTS of magnification.

I held the felt outside the door to catch snowflakes (it was only a light flurry, and not much below freezing). Most of the time I'd get clumps of melted or broken flakes so I'd shake them off and try again. If I got a good one, I'd turn around and place the felt on a trash can I had setup beneath the tripod and fire way, focusing manually and moving the felt around for better composition and light reflections. I chose felt because it had an interesting texture that was soft enough to cushion the snowflakes as they landed and also "self-insulated" to keep them from melting too fast.

Processing: scale to 1500px Bicubic, Sharpen, scale to 720px Bicubic Sharper. The tough part was getting a good balance of sharpness, so I did it in two stages.

Every once in a while I get criticized for making something fake look real, so it'll be interesting to see how I fare with a shot that's real but looks fake. ;-)

Post DQ- OUCH!! See that part about scaling in two stages? Don't do that! You can see more detail on the snowflake HERE.

Geez... my DQ already has more views in 12 hours than my Best of 2006, which was favorited 9 times. :-/
Disqualification Details
You may only resize your entry once in Minimal Editing.

Statistics
Views since voting: 3558
Comments: 9
Favorites: 5 (view)

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AuthorThread
Olympus E-5
Olympus 7-14mm f/4.0 Zuiko Digital Zoom
 04/27/2008 03:38:03 PM
LOL @ the comments asking if this is real. I've seen decillions similar to this one. ;\

Seriously though, this is a nice capture of a very delicate and very rare, in its complete form, object of nature that few see up close as we do here. I tried this just this winter on black velvet and never got that one single flake to land independently of the others. I got lots of nice shots but not like you caught here. Well done.

Now for that raindrop I want to capture on fi sensor. Got all summer to get that. ;\
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D700
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
 06/08/2007 04:28:03 PM
Wow, so that's what felt looks like under magnification?

You may only resize your entry once in Minimal Editing? Ah, keyword 'minimal', I was thinking basic.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 02/22/2007 02:53:51 AM
I just don't understand, how can this be a real snowflake? you'd need a microscope to see it like this?

would love to know.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2007 12:12:51 AM
mmmhmm, I knew something looked illegal :-P
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Canon EOS-6D
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 01/29/2007 09:15:34 AM
Are you sure that is a real snowflake? Either way I like the photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/27/2007 04:01:31 PM
Nice idea, meets the challenge. Unfortunately the grass grabs my attention more than the snowflake.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
Panasonic Lumix G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH Mega O.I.S lens
 01/27/2007 03:48:41 PM
Thanks for clarifying. I wouldn't have guessed it. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7000
Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II
 01/27/2007 10:56:41 AM
Good macro. That almost does look like grass too.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 01/26/2007 03:39:33 PM
Top of the list so far...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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