Incredible Close-ups of Snowflakes Shot with a Homemade Camera Rig
Kljatov was inspired to try his own snowflake photography after seeing a website called "Snow Crystals" created by a CalTech physics professor named Kenneth Libbrecht.
At first Kljatov believed it was impossible for amateurs to capture photos like these without expensive equipment.
"Now I know that this is completely wrong!" he wrote. "Every photographer with simple point-and-shoot camera can take very good snowflake pictures."
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Kljtatov uses what's called a "lens reversal macro technique" with a compact Canon Powershot A650is camera and a lens called the Helios 44M-5.
His favorite "background" is a dark woolen fabric, like the ones we've been showing you so far.Related: Google shows us how much the world has changed in 30 years
"Against this background, snowflakes look very impressive, " he wrote. "Like precious gems in a jewelry store."
But he also uses a glass background to capture the snowflakes in a different light.
You'd never expect such amazing results from the homemade set up.
For the lighting, he puts a flashlight nearby and uses colored glass patterns to create a subtle background of pinks or yellows.
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The result is a gorgeous silhouette of the snowflake that looks almost unreal.
Once the glass sheet is completely covered with snowflakes, Kljatov wipes it clean with a dry towel and starts over.
For both photo types, Kljatov actually took a series of pictures of the same snowflake.
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Then he aligned all the images on top of each other.
This is called "averaging, " and helps to reveal more details that might be missed in a single picture.
Kljatov said he usually takes 8 to 10 pictures of each snowflake.
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