Gallery: These Snowflakes Look Like Computer Chips From the Future
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Russian amateur photographer [Alexey Kljatov](http://chaoticmind75.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-technique-for-snowflakes-shooting.html ) has managed to capture [otherworldly pictures of snowflakes](http://www.flickr.com/photos/chaoticmind75/) using Cold War-era photography equipment and duct tape.
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While advances in specialized cameras have spoiled us with beautiful images, Kljatov has shown that spectacular images can be captured with what most people would consider garbage.
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"One day I saw shots of snowflakes on the internet and was amazed by their cold, crystalline beauty," says Kljatov.
Alexey Kljatov has shown that spectacular images can be captured with tools that most people would consider garbage. Photo: Alexey Kljatov049229912599-4b52a00318-c
He maxed out the optical zoom of his PowerShot and focused it on the surface of an antique Helios 44M-5 lens he salvaged from a Soviet-era [Zenit camera](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenit_(camera)). The hodgepodge of parts became a makeshift macro setup with the old-school lens acting as a souped-up jeweler's loupe.
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Instead of using a traditional tripod, Kljatov rests his Frankensteined rig on a cylindrical spacer made from the cutout mid-section of a plastic soda bottle.
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Individual snowflakes don't melt, they "sublime," transforming from solid to gaseous state without becoming liquid first and require great care to manipulate.
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To capture images with a lighter background, he flipped a stool over, rested a large sheet of glass on it, and illuminated the bottom using a LED flashlight which is passed through the filter of a few plastic grocery bags for diffusion.
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"Surprisingly, the LCD works fine after five winters and shows no problems, even when I stay outside long time and snow covers it almost completely," says Kljatov.
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Kljatov would also make multiple exposures of each flake and layer 8-10 images in Photoshop to create a single pristine photograph.
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Kljatov isn't done plumbing the depths of these delicate structures and is fascinated by sub-millimeter flakes with fascinatingly complex internal structures—though he believes he'll have to hack together a microscope to explore those structures.
