Photographs were taken using a Nikon D90 35 mm SLR with a 90 mm ‘macro’ lens.
Since cameras should not be exposed to the cold for too long, She decided not to work outdoors, but instead, by an open window in the relative comfort of her living room.
A black fleece scarf was used as a backdrop for the snow crystals, which had the added benefit that its fibers trapped snow crystals in place keeping them still. For stability several rocks placed on the fleece scarf kept it from flapping or being blown away. To create a cold working surface, the scarf was chilled by placing it in a plastic bag and hung out the window for about 30 minutes. The cold scarf did not prevent the snowflakes from melting, but slowed it down long enough for them to be photographed.
Most of the best photos were obtained using the auto-focus setting, macro and flash to capture snowflake detail in poor light.
The photographs were taken using readily-available equipment that most amateur photographers already have in their camera bags. While that setup is adequate for capturing the overall shapes of snow crystals, she acknowledges there isn’t enough resolution to capture finer microscopic details.
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