Snowflakes

It started snowing today (shock, surprise :P), and the first thought that came to mind was "I wonder if I could get a picture of a snowflake...?".  I don't have a macro lens, but I knew if I could get close enough I'd at least be able to get most of the details of a snowflake.  Since our front porch is white, and pretty much everything else outside is white as well, I set a piece of black construction paper outside to catch some snowflakes, then pulled out my camera and got to work!  I set it to the macro setting, no flash, and used manual focus.

I probably could have gotten much better pictures with a better lens, or even if I had just played around with the settings a bit more, but for a first attempt, they aren't bad. 
I also found that sharpening the pictures and bumping up the contrast really helps make the snowflakes a little more dramatic! 

~More close-ups coming soon!~