Frozen bubble photography in your own backyard

This story was originally published on Dec 29, 2017.

During the summer, Craig Hilts chases storms and aurora, but when it's too cold outside to do either, he takes pictures of bubbles.

Hilts runs Prairie Fire Photography in Swift Current, Sask., and his photo of a frozen bubble on a rose bush inspired CBC's The Afternoon Edition to ask how to mimic his results.

Hilts said he started photographing frozen bubbles about five or six years ago. 

He always uses regular bubble mixture you'd find in any store — nothing special — and while he uses a macro lens for his shots, you can still get cool images (pun intended) with a standard camera.

He encourages anyone to go out and give it a shot themselves.

"It's really easy. Anyone can do it; grab the bubbles, bundle up really nice and warm, and go out in the backyard. Find a place with not a lot of wind, and give it a try."

The photographs look great, but Hilts said the process of watching the bubble freeze looks pretty neat, too.

"You can actually see them freezing and crystallizing in real time, and it seems like a sped-up movie as the crystals form and wrap around the bubble and it goes from being this clear orb to a little crystal ball, basically."

His top tip for taking photos in the winter?

"Bundle up and have some hot chocolate waiting for you when you're done to warm yourself back up after doing it."

If you'd like to see more of Hilts's work, you can follow Prairie Fire Photography on Facebook, or pick up a copy of his coffee table book of photos called Living Skies.