Website Update - 2004/05 Snowcrystals

[Mark Cassino]

I just uploaded the February update to my website, with the second 
installment of snow crystal photos for this year. Since,in the last 5 years, 
I've only had one good post-January snow session, I expect that this will be 
it for this year.

I experimented with lighting a bit, and made some improvements that I think 
get me closer to, but not quite on par, with the best snow crystal 
photographer out there. Maybe next year I'll move up to using a microscope. 
For now, the *ist-D, a reverse mounted 50mm, a coffee can, and bit of 
colored plastic (this year I ran over to the local drug store an bough a 
clear plastic report cover) will do it.

My wonderful Pentax M f4 developed a _really_ stuck aperture, so the latest 
batch was shot with Sigma 50mm f2.8 macro. Nice sharp lens but it defied the 
conventional wisdom that adjusting the focus on a lens reverse mounted on a 
bellows set has no effect - the floating element meant that I had to lock it 
into place focus-wise. I hope to have the M 50 f4 fixed by next winter.

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Mark Cassino Photography
Kalamazoo, MI
www.markcassino.com
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