slider id='16483' name='Photographer Uses Home Invention For Macro Shots of Snowflakes'

Snowflakes are a visual staple of winter and the holidays, from retail design and packaging to the real stuff that you shovel.

Using a homemade macro rig, Russian photographer Alexey Kljatov puts a Winter Wonderland under the microscope for a series of stunning images that will give you a new appreciation for snow.

Each snowflake appears as a tiny, fragile piece of perfection, with six-sided symmetry and an intricate 1 of 1 pattern that blows away any paper snowflake you could ever cut. These are essentially snowflake portraits, and they’re gorgeous.

Kljatov says he photographed the snowflakes on his balcony, on a glass surface with LED or natural lighting and a wool fabric background.

Yet another instance of a photographer augmenting nature’s beauty with a new perspective. And Kljatov is even kind of enough to provide a diagram and instructions so you can try his technique for yourself. Or, if you prefer to paint a bigger picture with the snow, you can follow Simon Beck’s lead.