During a recent visit to Vermont I awakened to an amazing display of ice crystals on the windows. I grabbed my macro lens and started shooting. The sky was cloudless, and as the sun moved higher the refracted light on the crystaline structures provided a continually changing subject.
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| f/8.0 |
Shooting with a 90mm macro lens mounted on a Canon 40D, I experimented with various apertures and camera to subject distances.
Most of the windows had storm panes affixed to the exterior. The ice formed on the inner surface of the storm windows.
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| f/8.0 |
On some windows, the screens were in the down position.
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| f/5.6 |
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| f/8.0 |
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| f/8.0 |
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| f/2.8 |
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| f/4.0 |
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| f/11 |
The greatest challenge was achieving uniform image sharpness from center to edge. I was shooting hand-held. I discovered the best way to keep the focal plane parallel to the window pane was to place the lens shade flat up against the inner window glass. That worked well for the closest shooting distances. Shooting between f/8 and f/11 also extended the depth of field, but on some images it was more important to blur the background than maximize the DOF. In those instances I used apertures between f/2.8 and f/5.6.
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| f/5.6 |
Here's a summary of what I learned:
- Vary the aperture to increase or reduce the blur in the foreground (such as screening) and the background (such as leaves and branches). Experiment with different apertures.
- If hand-held, use a shutter speed at least 2x the focal length of the lens to minimize blur
- Keep the focal plane paralled to the window pane. Place the lens shade flat against the window for the extreme closeups.
- Pay attention to changing light
Those frosty winter mornings in the northern climates offer more than shivers to the motivated photographer.
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