Snowflakes

The winter is in full swing in Midwest. The temperatures last week were barely going up to single digits. And in those temperatures, we had almost everyday a little bit of snow falling. And what that means is that the flakes of the falling snow were the spectacle by itself. Well developed, interestingly shaped stars and branches. I went out to my dek to photograph them on Saturday. There were two issues I needed to resolve first. One, what background will do well for white snowflakes. The metal baking tray and my gloves did not provide enough contrast, but green wooden rail did a good job, and added some texture, too. Then, what lens I should use. The Sigma 50-500 mm I had borrowed for weekend from Lensrentals.com did not focus as near as I needed, after all it is not a macro lens, although it brought things close. My Nikkor 18-200 mm, although usually would do, did not work too well either. Frustrated, I brought my iPhone 4. I read this article a long time ago on shooting macro with an iPhone and tricks like magnifying glass, and I have even purchased the credit-card size loupe for the purpose. Did not have much time to play before, but keeping it steady (both items, in same position to each other) was a challenge. Fortunately, some of the pictures turned out all right.