If you’ve been lucky enough to have a white Christmas this year, then you might want to take advantage of the snow and photograph some snowflakes. No two snowflakes are the same, so your photographs of them can never be duplicated.
In this interesting video, Jens from Another Perspective tells us all about how snowflakes form, what temperature they form at, and which ones are the best ones to photograph. There’s also some mesmerising timelapse footage of snowflakes forming and some gorgeous macro photography.
If you want to learn how to shoot snowflakes, then also check out this video from Jens:
Snowflakes come in lots of different shapes, from flat hexagonal plates to columns. The best snowflakes to shoot are the classic snowflake shapes called dendrites. These form when the cloud temperature is between 32° and 20° F and again between 10° and 0°F.
They also occur during slightly more humid conditions. Apparently, no one knows why there are two different temperatures where these types of snowflakes form. It is still left to be discovered. However, it does make for more opportunities for photographers.
Snowflakes can range in size between 1 and 5mm, so you will need a good macro lens with a lot of magnification. Between 2.5 and 5x should be good. Jens suggests using a needle to help focus the lens on the actual snowflake, as it can be quite difficult to find the focal point otherwise.
If there’s cold weather but no snow, you can always try shooting frozen soap bubbles instead.
