Medium size snowflake, around 5 mm. 10 serial shots averaged to boost signal-to-noise ratio. Background: dark woolen fabric, natural light (gray clouded sky), external optics Helios 44M-5, january 2013, Moscow.
Thanks! Yes, it's photo of real snowflake, in photoshop i average 10 RAW serial shots (they all identical), do denoising, sharpening and blue color toning. Here is direct link to original shot straight out of camera:
Thanks! Yes, i use Helios 44M-5 lens from old USSR camera Zenit as a magnifier in front of Canon A650 built-in lens. For better quality, i also average 10 identical shots of this snowflake, this helps greatly for noise treatment. I wrote small post about snowflake shooting in journal: [link]
[link]
Amazing details! I love the structure in the middle of the snow flake.
The image works great with the wool background, too.