Macro Photos of Snowflakes Show Impossibly Perfect Designs

One of the true wonders of the world are snowflakes, tiny designs made of ice that are so individually unique, so detailed, and so spectacular it's hard to comprehend that they happen naturally and aren't pulled from the depths of our own imaginations.

Photographer Alexey Kljatov has a special talent for capturing the brief life of these beautiful ice creations. He features many of his snowflake photos on Flickr and his snowflake macro photography page.

Kljatov explains that he captures snowflakes on a balcony at his house, mostly on a glass surface, lighted by LED flashlight from the opposite side of the glass, and sometimes in natural light.

Sometimes he uses dark woolen fabrics as a background, which explains the fibers that are visible in some of the shots.

"Real snow crystals are amazing objects for macro photography, thanks to their beauty, uniqueness and unlimited diversity," he says on his site.

Even after eight winters of regular photo sessions, says Kljatov, and seeing thousands of snowflakes in all their details, "I do not get tired to admire new crystals with amazing form or an incredible inner pattern."

"Some people think that snowflake photography is a complex matter, and requires expensive equipment, but in fact it can be inexpensive, very interesting and quite easy, after some practice," he says.

Kljatov gives detailed descriptions of his methods on his site, for those of you who want to try your own hand at this; you can also view more beautiful photos of these exquisite natural wonders there. You may never look at snowflakes in the same way again.