I can’t think of anything better than cozying up by the fireplace and gazing out of my snow-frosted windows. But unfortunately, I’m spending this holiday season on the beaches of Bali, replacing egg-nog with coconuts and Douglas firs with palm trees.
I’m not worried about not having any Christmas spirit, because through the lenses of Russian photographer Alexey Kijatov, a world of translucent, icy crystals awaits both you and me. Pushing his creativity to the max, Kijatov captured snowflakes in their prickly and delicate state. Unlike anything you have seen, this beautiful collection of photography displays snowflakes against different backgrounds and in stunning HD quality.
If you are expecting to find a pricey, high-end camera behind these images then you are madly mistaken. Using materials found around the house, Kljatov strapped an old and inexpensive 44M-5 Helios lens to his Canon Powershot A650 to create the “fancy” equipment. When I say materials around the house, I mean a piece of plywood, a sheet of glass, a few nails and some stock adhesive – that’s it!
Kijatov was kind enough to share the entire imaging process with his fans. According to his blog, he took the pictures at a 1 centimeter distance from the glass. With a 1-2 second delay, he illuminated the snowflake with a LED flashlight from the bottom side of the table. The extra lighting environment created by the two layers of white plastic bag made shooting possible even at night with minimum ISO and short exposure time.
If you want to find out more about his featured selection, check out his personal website where you can browse through even more of his beautiful studies. Below are some of his most memorable snowflake images, take a look!
[via Inhabitat | pictures via Beautiful Decay]
These pictures are just so magical… thanks for sharing the secrets of how it’s done, and Happy New Year!