Snow crystals glittering in strong direct sunlight 03 - cropped
Ever wondered what really sparkly snowflakes looks like close up? The clear, transparent ice crystals act like little prisms and refracts the sunlight into small rainbows.
The day with the heaviest snowfall this winter (2017/2018), high humidity -8 C made some big spectacular crystals. The weather was changing constantly with patches of blue sky alternating with clouds and snowfall. This made it possible to photograph good quality crystals in strong light. Camera zoomed in on the most “glittery” flakes, the strong reflected glints in the snow you can see with the naked eye.
Three external Hoya macro lenses were used, x1, x2, x4, all simultaneously for maximum effect.
Full series is available on Commons:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Close-up_photographs_... Original public domain image from Flickr