The fine-structure of snowflakes

May in Beijing

The snowflakes I observed were approximately 3 mm in diameter. When these photographs were taken, it was still snowing heavily. All snow flakes were fresh and undisturbed.

Click here for large size image

The optical set up consists of a Panasonic FZ-30, with a Tokina 28-105mm f4.0 lens reverse mounted onto the FZ-30. Illumination was provided by the FZ-30’s on-camera flash. The magnification as viewed on-screen is approximately 250 x. Due to the absence of a suitable light reflector to direct the flash output onto the subject, maximum magnification of this set up (400x ) was not achievable.

A 100% crop of the previous image.
Click here for wider view.

Data processing was performed using Adobe Photoshop. Due to the high diffusivity of snow, much of the original images were mostly white. The levels algorithm was used to increase the images' contrast, thus improving viewability.


Conclusion:
Therefore God exists. QED.

:p