20100224 253 254 Northern Cardinal xxx.jpg by Hank Vander Velde

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Image # 1 @ 03.38.56	Image # 2 @ 03.38.70

20100224 253 254 Northern Cardinal xxx.jpg

VELOCITY OF A FALLING SNOWFLAKE

I just discovered an other reason for bird photography; namely, to assist in calculating the speed of a falling snowflake.

In image # 1, a snowflake can be seen at eye-level of the Cardinal. In image # 2, it can be seen to be approximately 3 cm below the eye. Image # 2 is taken 0.14 seconds after # 1.

What is the speed of this snowflake? (My calcs = 0.77 km/hr) Any takers?

Nikon D300 ,Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4G ED VR
1/400s f/7.1 at 500.0mm iso640 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Len		13-Mar-2010 21:00
Good trivia Hank,you got lots of controversy here,anyway I like the shot with the snowflake in the lower position-cheers!!

Robert D. McAlpine		12-Mar-2010 14:02
Hank since you are an engineer, I would have thought you would express speed in terms of ft/s (or furlongs/fortnight)?

XiaoBernard99		12-Mar-2010 07:10
:-) I take my little computer also,0.77km/h it is 0.2m/s more expressive for me! :-) I must take a lot of picture on this theme!:-)

golfpic		11-Mar-2010 23:22
The speed of the snowflake is too slow in photo 1 and just right in photo 2 :-) Does that may any sense??

bill friedlander		11-Mar-2010 18:53
I'll take your word for it (but John Grantham has a point). The cardinal is beautiful even through the snow. V

Dave Hawkins		11-Mar-2010 14:45
what is snow?

Fong Lam		11-Mar-2010 13:31
Great images of this lovely cardinal and thanks for the info on the speed of a falling snowflake, Hank.....V

Lamar Nix		11-Mar-2010 13:30
Cardinal is no doubt revisiting his winter residency schedule. I'll take your word for the velocity. V

Char		11-Mar-2010 13:11
An interesting observation in these excellent shots Hank. \/

marko gregoric		11-Mar-2010 12:43
Wonderful images of this fantastic cardinal. V.

Ali Majdfar		11-Mar-2010 11:50
Splendid capture! ~V

Colin Storey		11-Mar-2010 11:05
Too great shots, well worked out with the speed of the snow, I would have no idea.

NealyBob		11-Mar-2010 10:46
Excellent shots Hank! A fast shutter can make a difference~!

Guest		11-Mar-2010 07:42
Beautiful capture Hank !v

January Grey		11-Mar-2010 05:32
Ditto! (Carol) Love the observation & the photos, Hank!!

Carol Rollins		11-Mar-2010 05:25
I'm with vatorman on this one Hank. And....that second shot is fabulous. ~

Bryan Murahashi		11-Mar-2010 04:35
A beautiful cardinal capture.

lou_rozensteins		11-Mar-2010 03:50
Well, whatever, it's a great shot of a cardinal. Especially the second one.

hge54		11-Mar-2010 03:30
Your logic is spot on, but offhand, that would seem a little slow to me. A slow walking pace is 3km/hr. On the other hand, our Northwest snow is wet and heavy, probably falling much faster. Great shot of the bird. The only one I have ever seen was wild, in Hawaii. Hal

Dominic Cantin		11-Mar-2010 03:29
Beautiful capture Hank ! I've tried the crossed eyes technique to see the image in 3D and the result is surprising 8) Dom :)

Lieve Snellings		11-Mar-2010 02:36
amazing thoughts Hank, nice photos too, v

Yi Feng		11-Mar-2010 02:34
That's cool, Hank. You are good at math :)

Nora van Beek		11-Mar-2010 02:14
I think I'll take your word for it, Hank. That's way too much math for me. Great shots! ~V~

Marcia Colelli		11-Mar-2010 02:08
Nice capture and showing us the speed of a snowflake V

slhoornstra		11-Mar-2010 01:50
A very stunning capture of this cardinal. Interesting observation of the snowflake too. V

Glenn Dean (Vatorman)		11-Mar-2010 01:32
Who knew math and metrology would meet meteorology and ornithology …fantastic observation and glad you shared this experience.

Tom Munson		11-Mar-2010 01:13
Nice shot, Hank! All this calculating has my head aching.

jychamberland		11-Mar-2010 01:10
very nice shot Hank!

Jean D		11-Mar-2010 00:16
Beautiful Cardinal, Hank!

Brad Claypole		11-Mar-2010 00:12
Yes.. but whats the air speed of an unladen African Swallow? lol

John Grantham		10-Mar-2010 23:57
It depends on the distance between you and the snow flake. If it were close the the cardinal it would be in focus (or close to focus) and would have fallen about 3 cm. However, if the flake is close to the lens it may have only fallen 1 cm or less. This is very likely due to the flake not only being out of focus but transparent. If 1 cm then it is falling approximately 0.25 km/hour. I have to admit I would have thought snow fell faster than that. I enjoyed the photo. 500mm at 1/400s, the VR must work pretty good or you were on a tripod.

Stephanie		10-Mar-2010 23:46
OMG ~ you scare me! Are you an engineer? Terrific photo!

Doug Jones		10-Mar-2010 23:39
This is too funny!! I love it, nice photo as well!

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