❄️ ❄️ We all know that every snowflake is unique, but did you know that every snowflake is amazing? At least the ones shot here by Alexey Kljatov in incredible macro are.
What stunning shapes nature is capable of achieving. From simple to detailed and exquisite, it’s wild to think of the billions of different formations that are capable from frozen flakes.
Really impressive, especially considering Kljatov created his own inexpensive rig to capture this fleeting beauty.
The Photography Behind These Shots
Kljatov, who shoots under the name ChaoticMind75, built his own macro setup rather than buying one: a reversed lens mounted on extension tubes, aimed down at a pane of glass on his balcony in Moscow, with an LED flashlight lighting each flake from below and a scrap of dark woolen fabric as backdrop. It is a resourceful, almost DIY approach to a genre that usually demands expensive gear — proof that the right idea matters more than the price tag. If you like the idea of ordinary tools capturing extraordinary detail, Moss & Fog’s look at macro moth photography is cut from the same cloth.
“I capture snowflakes at open balcony of my house, mostly on glass surface, lighted by LED flashlight from opposite side of glass, and sometimes in natural light, using dark woolen fabrics as background.”
Why No Two Snowflakes Are Alike
The claim gets repeated so often it can start to sound like a slogan, but it holds up — with one nuance worth knowing. As a snow crystal falls, it passes through constantly shifting pockets of temperature and humidity, and each of those micro-conditions nudges its growth in a slightly different direction. Because a single flake can contain quintillions of water molecules arranged along the way, the odds of two complex, heavily branched crystals matching each other exactly are effectively zero. Simple, unbranched plates like the one above can look very similar to one another; it’s the elaborate dendrites — the ones with dozens of tiny branch points, each shaped by its own passage through the clouds — where “no two alike” becomes almost a certainty rather than a figure of speech.
The Science of Crystal Symmetry
Every one of these shapes traces back to a single molecule. Water molecules bond at fixed angles as they freeze, and that geometry naturally stacks into a hexagonal lattice — which is why virtually every snow crystal, however elaborate its arms become, is built on six-fold (or occasionally three-fold) symmetry. The endless variety comes from what happens next: as the hexagonal seed drifts through the atmosphere, it grows arms, plates, and branches in response to the exact temperature and moisture it encounters, so the same underlying geometry produces an almost limitless range of forms.
At a Glance
- Photographer: Alexey Kljatov (ChaoticMind75), shooting from his balcony in Moscow.
- Technique: a homemade macro rig — reversed lens on extension tubes, LED flashlight lighting each flake from behind a glass pane, dark wool as backdrop.
- Science fact: the six-fold symmetry comes from the fixed bonding angle of water molecules as they freeze; the “no two alike” rule is most reliably true of the complex, heavily branched crystals shaped by ever-shifting humidity and temperature on the way down.
If this kind of patient, close-looking photography is your thing, it’s worth spending time with 40 Hidden Wonders of the Natural World — another reminder that the most breathtaking geometry on Earth is often small enough to melt in your hand.
33 Comments
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Love to see God’s gifts of beauty in nature.
absolutely beautiful! So, they are 6 sided. So is the Star of David. So is the basis (6) of the Babylonian numerical system. Very interesting, is it not?
So, 6 sided like the Star of David. Hmm. Did not the Babylonians also use 6 as their numerical base? Hmm. There is so much we do not know. These snowflakes are pure beauty, Thank you for showing them to us.
I wonder why God made even snowflakes beautiful.
Thanks for the comment! We read they use specialized lenses and woolen fabric, that the flakes can rest on.
I wonder how they form such geometric shapes, nearly perfect in every detail. I’ve never seen an actual snowflake up so close as to see its shape, except in photographs. How does one capture a single snowflake with a camera?
I don’t see a way to apply fractals here. What am I missing?
The interesting geometric designs of each snowflake, is that all the angles are 109 deg. The photo of the snowflake with a star in the center id magnificent.
Just breathtaking and beautiful handiwork of the Creator!!!
beautiful
Wow, these look like Christmas tree ornaments! (Only more beautiful)
What forces are these that create such form?
We will look into what lenses the photographer used!
Thanks for the comment, we added more unique ones to the post!
Those hexagons stunned us too!
So glad to hear it!
Fantastic, will do!
Thia made my day!
Wilson Alwyn Bentley (February 9, 1865 – December 23, 1931, also known as Snowflake Bentley was, I believe the first to do this in the early part of the last century. His photographs are as impressive considering what he had to work with.
Interesting that all images are hexagon-based. Never considered that before.
Why, when there are SO many beautiful snowflakes, is the same one in this article three times?
Gorgeous!Thanks for up-lifting content!
Gorgeous. What type of lens is required to take photos like these?
I think that snowflake construction answers the indirect observation argument for Enistein’s theory of relativity paradox. I think this is how light moves.
Ever hear of “snowflake Bentley” from Vermont?
Did the very same work a hundred years ago
BEAUTIFUL! ONLY THE CREATIVITY OF God could do this
Only God can create something as beautiful as a snowflake
God’s handiwork.
Only God can do this.
Magnificent!
I’ve never seen a snowflake that close up before. These are so cool! 🙂
Such clarity and variety! Thank you for sharing this with the world.