Incredible Close-ups of Snowflakes Shot with a Homemade Camera Rig

By Kim Renfro / Thisisinsider.com

December 19, 2016

This story originally appeared on Thisisinsider.com.

Russian photographer Alexey Kljatov is a master of snowflake photography. After using a homemade rig with inexpensive equipment to take stunning close-ups, Kljatov's snowflake photos went viral in 2013.

But he hasn't stopped capturing amazing photos, and now his images are more stunning than ever. Kljatov shared new photos with INSIDER, and thanks to his extensive "how-to" blog post, we learned more about the process behind the images.

Keep reading for a look at the amazing snowflake crystals and to learn more about how Kljatov works his magic.

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Incredible Close-ups of Snowflakes Shot with a Homemade Camera Rig

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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.

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At first Kljatov believed it was impossible for amateurs to capture photos like these without expensive equipment.

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"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.

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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

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"Against this background, snowflakes look very impressive, " he wrote. "Like precious gems in a jewelry store."

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But he also uses a glass background to capture the snowflakes in a different light.

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You'd never expect such amazing results from the homemade set up.

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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.

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Once the glass sheet is completely covered with snowflakes, Kljatov wipes it clean with a dry towel and starts over.

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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.

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This is called "averaging, " and helps to reveal more details that might be missed in a single picture.

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Kljatov said he usually takes 8 to 10 pictures of each snowflake.

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