Russian photographer Alexey Kljatov takes incredibly detailed macro photos of snowflakes. His photography demonstrates the gorgeous individuality of each snowflake’s design. (1)
Macro Photos of Snowflakes
Kljatov, who is based in Moscow, first became enamored with photography through his mother, who he describes as “a photography enthusiast”. She taught him how to use film SLR cameras. He moved on to digital cameras once they became available. In particular, he enjoyed using the Casio QV-3000 to zoom in on small parts of nature. (2)
Kljatov told American Forests that he began by photographing ladybugs and flowers. But when he saw some shots of snowflakes from another photographer on the internet, he was inspired to try to shoot them as well. He described being “amazed by their cold, crystal-like beauty.” The next winter, he started taking snowflake photographs. (2)
“My early snowflake shots were terrible, but I was happy because I was seeing snowflake shapes and patterns, which hadn’t seen before,” Kljatov said to American Forests. (2)
Photography Technique
While you might expect that being able to take detailed macro photos of snowflakes would involve a lot of expensive equipment, Kljatov described his setup as inexpensive. He takes the photographs on the balcony of his home. (2)
Kljatov uses two methods to shoot snowflakes. For the first, he drapes dark fabric over a stool and waits for a “good crystal” to fall on the fabric. He then shoots the photos at an angle using a desktop tripod. This results in dark photos with bright snowflakes lit naturally. (2)
For the second method, Kljatov flips the same stool upside down and places a sheet of glass across its legs. Once a photograph-worthy snowflake lands on the glass surface, he lights it from below with an LED flashlight. Kljatov shoots these photos from directly above. (2)
To keep his hands from shaking and ruining the photos while he’s shooting from above, Kljatov built a contraption to help him. He cut a cylinder from a small plastic bottle, which fits over the camera’s lens. The cylinder keeps the lens resting at one centimeter above the glass. Kljatov says that this is the minimum focusing distance for his camera when it is in macro mode. (2)
Once a snowflake has fallen on the glass, Kljatov places the cylinder and camera over the snowflake. He turns on the LED flashlight under the glass. It’s bright enough to allow him to shoot at night. Kljatov says that he tries to light the snowflake at an angle because it gives “the crystal more dark and light detail and contours.” (2)
In the Family
Kljatov’s mother also photographs snowflakes, allowing them to continue to enjoy photography together. Kljatov says that he and his mother often shoot snowflakes together and that they use similar techniques. (2)
However, the photographer says that his mother tends to work more quickly, spending no more than 10 minutes on a photo. His own technique involves spending several hours creating a composite of several images of the same snowflake to achieve the most detailed shot. (2)
Kljatov’s macro photos of snowflakes are amazing to observe. They perfectly capture how special and unique each snowflake is.
