02/01/25

 Happy first day of February!  The year is really moving along which is nice because I am tired of the cold and snow.  The snow hasn't even been good for snowflake photos which has been horribly disappointing.  It has been pretty good for ice crystal images of the storm doors though.  This is one I took on a cold morning on the west side of the house when the sun had not melted it off yet.  I love the fern-like patterns the ice makes on the glass.

2/21/20

Wishing for summer but today's image shows more of what we are having lately though last weekend did warm up a bit.  We had some pretty huge icicles hanging off the roof last week.  I imagine they would hurt pretty well if you were under them when they broke off.  I liked the bokeh in this one created by the tree branches behind.

1/31/20

This is a macro image I captured of the hoar frost we had in our area.  It was the day after it was at it's largest and prettiest but in this one area it was still present and lovely.  I liked the bokeh around it as well.  I wish the background had been a bit darker to show it off even better but you take what you can get sometimes.  

1/29/20

This image was another favorite I was able to capture while shooting frozen soap bubble images.  This one produced the fern like crystals that I find quite pretty.  For those new to the Blog that would like to see one freeze, i have a YouTube video that I made.  Here  and also here .  You can see the difference in how fast it freezes when it is very cold out in the short video to when it is a bit warmer out in the second.

Note: the videos will open in a new window.

4/1/19

As I make my 2053rd post here on this first day of April I am reflecting on the time spent on my first social media platform, Google Plus.  I wish the fact that it is going away today was an April Fools joke.  I met some really great people there and feel I will lose contact with them now.  They inspired me to be a better photographer.  I hope more of them will join me here as some have already.  
Well, today's image is some patterns provided by nature.  On a very cold day this past winter, not so long ago, there were beautiful ice patterns created on the storm door of the house.  They reminded me of a river of ferns.

3/15/19

This is another in my Frozen Bubble Series and another that I did in afternoon sunlight in the Spruce tree.  I really liked how these came out.  The  light was great but it was windy and difficult to get them to form without breaking even with the tree shielding the direct wind.  I thought the few I was able to get were lovely and the snow in the tree created some great bokeh too.

3/11/19

I am on Spring Break this week, it's earlier than usual but not sure why, so I will be posting earlier in the day.  I was trying to think of a different way to showcase the snowflakes I have been able to capture since I am limited in the amount of magnification I can get.  I came up with this idea and liked it.  These are 4 of the best snowflakes I was able to capture during a snowfall where they were clean and well formed.

3/9/19

I am tired of winter but today is finally warmer so I can imagine spring is on the way.  I do like how this past winter has provided opportunities for interesting images.  This is another from a few weeks ago when a bitter cold morning created ice patterns on the storm door.  A little playing around with the colors from the trees behind gave the feathery abstract patterns a rather metallic look I thought.

2/15/19

We are having winter weather again today, not as bad as predicted but you never know how it will go.  This image today is from last week after we had a Thunder and Lightning storm with sleet.  I froze a bubble in some sleet that's why is looks like it is sitting on little balls.  I'm posting a bit early today as well because I took some vacation time today.

2/12/19

We are seeing the sun today and warming up as well.  How nice.  I can post a shot from a very cold day last week.  Ice crystals had formed on the storm door in interesting patterns.  I thought this capture of some of them reminded of sea creatures. 

1/28/19

This is another in my frozen soap bubble series.  They are lovely on their own but I wanted to be a little creative with it and have some added interest.  This one turned out as kind of a double bubble but I loved the patterns in both.

Here is a link to a YouTube video that I made that shows how I do it.  This first one forms very quickly, it was done in very cold temperatures:
Freezing A Bubble Very Cold

This link shows one I did in a bit warmer temps and the crystals take longer to form:
Freezing a Bubble Warmer

It was almost too windy in this second video.  Wind of any kind will cause the bubble to pop before the crystals form.

3/22/18

It's supposed to be Spring but it does not look like that at the moment where I am.  It's not cold enough to do these which I am glad for but I am kind of looking forward to being able to do these next winter, I have some ideas.  In the meantime this is Golden Bubble, another in my Frozen Bubble Series.

2/26/18

Today is the second day of my Black & White Challenge.  We had some icing here the other day, fortunately nothing too bad like power outages.  It made for some nice images though.  I captured this shot of a Pine Cone covered in it and felt it was a good monochrome subject. 

2/24/18

Here is another in my Frozen Bubble Series.  We have warmed up too much to do them this winter and that's actually fine, I am anxious for spring.  I can play with the images I have taken already.  This one is Purple Jewels.
I also added another video that shows a bubble freezing at a slower rate in warmer conditions.  It can be found Here.

1/20/18

Here is another frozen bubble that I had fun trying to do this winter.  For this one I used a technique suggested by a photographer on G+ who does some really beautiful ones along with his magnificent macro snowflakes.  Anyway, I shot this at night using a bright flashlight behind and a special lens to diffuse that light.  I think it gave the bubble a glow like effect.  I just love the patterns that are created by the bubble freezing.

1/2/18

Warming up a bit today.  The cold weather was good for something, I was able to try an experiment that a guy I follow on G+ from Canada does, freeze bubbles and take photos.  I followed a few tips from him but missed one about back lighting it but I was happy with the results I got.  I lit mine from the side and at an angle.  I hate the cold weather but this was a fun thing to do.  This was from my 3rd and best attempt of the day.  I had done some in daylight but I like how this night time version turned out.