DIY Macro Snowflake Photography

These macro shots of snowflakes are amazing. They are the work of Russian photographer Alexey Kljatov. Part of the fascination for me is that we’ve all heard the old adage that no two snowflakes are alike, but we rarely see the crazy forms that the saying comes from. And crazy is a good way to put it. I had an idea in my head about what snowflakes look like up close, and some of them actually fit. But some of them are completely out of the realm of what I had even considered. I’ve added two here, but you should definitely head over to Kljatov’s flickr site to see them all.

As if that wasn’t enough, this story gets better. Kljatov also has a post on his blog showing off the system that he uses to capture the images. There are no fancy high end cameras and big dollar lenses at work here. These amazing shots are made using a point-and-shoot camera, an old lens, a piece of wood, and duct tape. It’s a brilliant bit of DIY ingenuity. Have a look at it here, and read a detailed description on the blog.