Week 3 Pre-Trip Blog

Week 3: Aimee Piccolo, Merrimack High School

Experimental photography is a course that encourages new ways for investigating and understanding the world through the lens of a camera. Students are asked to engineer unique solutions that form meaningful and thought-provoking compositions and bridge the gap between art and science. Our students chose to embrace the typically long, cold, snow filled winters experienced in New Hampshire by learning to photograph snowflakes, emphasizing the beauty and science of snowflake formation. In the beginning of this project, our students researched the science and history behind snowflake photography, they took initial photographs of frozen bubbles and video conferenced with the Mt. Washington Observatory. Soon we head up to the summit of Mt. Washington to take photographs of snowflakes and to learn how snowflake data is collected and used. After our trip and armed with the knowledge gained from our experience (and with a little help from Mother Nature) our students will start collecting and photographing snowflakes with macro lenses. This project was inspired by Wilson Bentley’s work with snowflakes at the turn of the twentieth century. 

In 1885, Vermont native, Wilson Bentley created the first photograph of a single snowflake using a microscope and a camera. He would work outside for hours, carefully catching snowflakes, transferring them to a microscope slide, and photographing them in his shed using a process that would later be known as photomicrography. Over a period of the next 46 years, Bentley took over 5,000 photographs of snowflakes, creating one of the most extensive snowflake archives in the world. Many of his images can be seen in the book, Snowflakes in Photographs. By examining his photographs and utilizing the data collected when they were taken, scientists determined that there was a relationship between the weather conditions and the shape that a snowflake will take when it is formed. 

After researching how snowflakes are formed, our students wanted to learn how to photograph snowflakes using commonly available photography equipment: DSLR camera, macro lens, and a ring light, and a cell phone with macro lens attachments. We decided to start with the cell phone and the macro lens attachments, because our students had previously used this combination for another project and were comfortable using these tools.

To collect snowflake samples to photograph, our students created catch boards. These boards were created by adhering black felt to a clipboard and then cutting the felt down to size. The fibers of the felt work well to capture and hold any snowflakes that fall on the fabric.

Next, since Mother Nature has yet to cooperate with us, and there has been little snow, our students decided to try and freeze bubbles in the classroom using either dry ice, or Peltier Junctions, and photograph them using only their cell phones. The students created many different enclosures to try to freeze the bubbles. With hard work and perseverance, several students were successful in getting at least the bottom portion of the bubble to freeze. Despite being able to freeze portions of the bubble, very few interesting crystals formations were created in the bubble film. 

We continued to wait for snow to no avail, however we did get extremely low temperatures, so we decided to try freezing bubbles outside. Students researched different mixtures and found that adding sugar and corn syrup to the bubble solution helped the water crystalize better when it froze. They also learned that rather than forming bubbles, snowflake like structures can be formed in the bubble film while it was still on the wand. Students used their cell phones and macro lens attachments to photograph the crystals formed. 

After we get back from the summit, weather permitting, our students hope to use their catch boards and DSLR cameras to capture images of snowflakes. Stay tuned for future updates and images- and please oh please let us get some snow!!!