Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley's Snow Pictures

How would you photograph a snowflake? It's not as simple as point-and-click with your camera. This snowflake was photographed by Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley (February 9, 1865 – December 23, 1931). He lived in Vermont and would go outside to capture snowflakes on velvet or a blackboard, transfer them to a microscope slide, and photograph them using a bellows camera attached to a compound microscope. He had to be quick because the tiny crystals would melt or sublimate away. Wilson took over 5000 photos of snow crystals! Based on his observations, Bentley proposed the idea that no two snowflakes are identical. This notion captured public attention, though as it turns out, some snowflakes are similar enough as to be virtually indistinguishable.

I've collected some of Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley's photos as well as modern electron micrograph images taken by the USDA and compiled a snowflake photo gallery. These images are public domain, so you can copy them and use them or save them, too.


Photo: Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley with his camera.