Diamonds in the Sky

After five years I'm sure my neighbors have decided that I'm a little wacky sometimes. And it is a title that I probably deserve, especially after the last week.

In my ongoing attempts to conquer f-stops and apertures I headed outside three different times in the late afternoons to play in snowbanks. With our warming temps (sorry about that, FN) the ice crystals were melting, resulting in some interesting formations. A macro lens is one that allows for very closeup shots and can produce interesting images. By kneeling or laying down in the snowbanks and shooting upwards using a very wide aperture (!!!!) I was able to produce a few interesting shots and finally get a good handle on some more techie stuff. And each time I came home soaked to my waist. By the way,can I state again how much I love my new camera?

This shot was taken on my first day out. What you see in the image was actually only about two inches across, a very tiny hole in the top of a large snowbank. Macro is usually not my favorite technique but I must admit that this one was fun to get. It took a first place in our small camera club competition tonight. The bison by the river image from Yellowstone earned a second.

We need more snow. White snow. With our current inversion it is all dirty and gray, not very pretty for photographing.

Come on, think snow....