Frost on a blade of grass

The good part is that you managed to capture a fleeting event. The minus is that you haven't really brought out the "magic" in the frost crystals. In the first image, you have a nice clear view of the edge crystals, but the ones lower down are out of focus. Then along the bottom, you have another edge with clearly defined crystals. As well, the exposure seems somewhat too bright, and since the crystals are very bright, lowering the overall exposure would not have hurt them.
 
The good part is that you managed to capture a fleeting event. The minus is that you haven't really brought out the "magic" in the frost crystals. In the first image, you have a nice clear view of the edge crystals, but the ones lower down are out of focus. Then along the bottom, you have another edge with clearly defined crystals. As well, the exposure seems somewhat too bright, and since the crystals are very bright, lowering the overall exposure would not have hurt them.
I agree completely......I should have used f/32 instead of f/22.....This one works a little better focus wise but I don't like the subject as well.


frozen golden rod-2.small by Greybeard16, on Flickr
 
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.........I agree completely......I should have used f/32 instead of f/22.........

Stopping lenses all the way down can actually lower image quality than improve it.
 
.........I agree completely......I should have used f/32 instead of f/22.........

Stopping lenses all the way down can actually lower image quality than improve it.

Yes, diffraction will lower it but, having everything you need in focus is usually worth the trade off. These shots were at minimum focus so f/32 isn't really fully stopped down, it would be more like f/64. etc.
 
I think the challenge was that you were shooting under overcast skies, and that gives very flat lighting. Just brainstorming here, but a bit of fill flash (not so much for the light, but for a bit of sparkle) could have livened up the crystals a bit. If you had OCF to work with, so much the better. But of course, this is kinda academic, because when I've had the same kind of situation, I didn't have the equipment with me, and probably it would not have occured to me either... The beauty of armchair quarterbacking, is that you can make all kinds of wise suggestions that didn't (or wouldn't have) occur to us when we were in that position ourselves. :blushing:
 
It was shot with SB700 flash f/22 and 1/200 sec. I used the dome diffuser and hand held. My shots are spare of the moment between work assignments when I have 5min or so to shoot and something catches my eye. Camera is in the back seat ready to go. I seldom if ever have time to set anything up. It helps me keep my sanity in my crazy world, I'm a high school band director.
 
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