Dark crystals 2012-2014

Simple collage with snowflakes on dark background. All individual photos keep their original resolution, and, because i capture snowflakes from nearly same distance from lens, differences in size of crystals close to real.

This is big picture: 10000 x 10000 pixels, 54mb jpeg file. Some browsers won't open full size because of high memory requirements. In this case it can be downloaded via button at lower right corner of photo at flickr page.

I used one of these nice free canvas textures.

Print available at: 500px.com, pixels.com, deviantart.com.

More snowflakes in album snowflakes and snow crystals.
Also i wrote small article about my shooting technique.

Collage with bright crystals:

Desktop wallpaper with these collages in wallpapers section:

Rapture

(4000 * 3000)

Revisited House of Music. I really like this building and it's environment. With new processing, it reminds me some place of underwater city Rapture from great game Bioshock.

Moscow, august 2014. Simple HDR processing from 5 exposures (i used averaging of source exposures for better clarity and colors: 4 shots for brightest and 8 for each other exposure, 36 shots total).

Print available at: deviantart.com, 500px.com.

The keys to december

Decided to change name of blog. New name taken from amazing short story "The Keys to December" by Roger Zelazny, one of my favourite writers. This story, though takes place in cold world, in distant future, have strong relation to our world and our time.

During their last month of duty, Sanza asked him, "Will everything die here but us? The green birds and the big eaters of flesh? The funny little trees and the hairy caterpillar?"

"I hope not," said Jarry. "I've been reading back through the biologists' notes. I think life might adapt. Once it gets a start anywhere, it'll do anything it can to keep going. It's probably better for the creatures of this planet we could afford only twenty Worldchangers. That way they have three millennia to grow more hair and learn to breathe our air and drink our water. With a hundred units we might have wiped them out and had to import coldworld creatures or breed them. This way, the ones who live here might be able to make it."

"It's funny," she said, "but the thought just occurred to me that we're doing here what was done to us. They made us for Alyonal, and a nova took it away. These creatures came to life in this place, and we're taking it away. We're turning all of life on this planet into what we were on our former worlds - misfits."

-- Roger Zelazny. "The Keys to December"

Blue hour

(6740 * 6660)

This picture is panoramic stitch of 6 images: 4 for ground part (HDR from 3 exposures) and 2 for sky (single exposure). Moscow, district Teply Stan, august 2014.

Print available at: deviantart.com, 500px.com.

Molten glass

(1363 x 1022)

Yet another hexagonal plate from january 2013. This crystal was big for it's type, slightly larger than 1 mm. I like it's details (especially that curved "four-leaf clover" pattern) and how crystal volumetric surface distorts background behind it.

12 serial shots averaged to boost signal-to-noise ratio. Background: dark woolen fabric, natural light (clouded sky), external optics Helios 44M-5, Moscow.

This example shows averaging technique benefits:

More snowflakes in album snowflakes and snow crystals.
Also i wrote small article about my shooting technique.