{"id":370187,"date":"2025-12-25T03:47:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T03:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/370187\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T03:47:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T03:47:07","slug":"these-macro-photos-of-snowflakes-reveal-natures-most-dazzling-designs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/370187\/","title":{"rendered":"These Macro Photos of Snowflakes Reveal Nature\u2019s Most Dazzling Designs"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s easy to be swept up in awe when taking in an expansive landscape or a sky blazing with sunset-pink ripples. But nature\u2019s tiniest designs can be just as transformative. Take snowflakes. Their shape is an iconic theme in winter d\u00e9cor<\/a>, but behind their cheery form lies some of Mother Nature’s most magical work.<\/p>\n

Snowflakes appear in dozens of structures, from simple columns and stars to ornate dendrites and beyond. Ahead, we\u2019ve gathered a selection of macro photographs of classic snowflake forms to show just how remarkable these tiny wonders truly are.<\/p>\n

A cluster of three stellar dendrites with long, sharp arms and elegant structure.
\nCredit: <\/p>\n

ChaoticMind75 \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

These exquisite photos were taken by Alexey Kljatov, a photographer from Moscow. “My passion is taking\u00a0macro photos of real snowflakes,” he writes on his website<\/a>. “Natural snow crystals, due to their beauty, amazing shapes, structures, uniqueness, and endless variety, are one of the most interesting subjects for macro photography.”<\/p>\n

Large split plate type snowflake with traditional shape and very simple structure.
\nCredit: <\/p>\n

ChaoticMind75 \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Snowflakes are born when a supercooled water droplet freezes onto a particle of dust or pollen in the sky, forming an ice crystal. As the crystal descends, more water vapor freezes onto its surface, building new structures\u2014these become the six arms of a snowflake.<\/p>\n

A large stellar dendrite with flat surface and tiny bubbles of frozen rime.
\nCredit: <\/p>\n

ChaoticMind75 \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ice crystals that make up snowflakes are symmetrical (or patterned) because they reflect the internal order of the crystal\u2019s water molecules as they arrange themselves in predetermined spaces (known as crystallization) to form a six-sided snowflake,\u201d explains the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a> (NOAA).<\/p>\n

A cluster of stellar dendrites with simple, thin straight arms.
\nCredit: <\/p>\n

ChaoticMind75 \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

The shape a snow crystal takes is guided by temperature\u2014and, to a lesser degree, the moisture in the air.<\/p>\n

A star plate snowflake with short, broad arms and large central hexagon.
\nCredit: <\/p>\n

ChaoticMind75 \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

At around 23 degrees Fahrenheit, crystals grow long and slender, forming needle-like shapes. Drop the temperature to about 5 degrees, and those same crystals spread outward instead, becoming thin, flat plates.<\/p>\n

A stellar dendrite with a glossy surface and tiny bubbles of frozen rime.
\nCredit: <\/p>\n

ChaoticMind75 \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

A crystal may begin growing its arms in one pattern, only to shift course moments (or seconds) later as subtle changes in temperature or humidity alter the way ice forms, NOAA explains. No journey is the same, which is why no two snowflakes are alike.<\/p>\n

A large stellar dendrite with thin, complex arms and tiny bubbles of frozen rime.
\nCredit: <\/p>\n

ChaoticMind75 \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Although the ice crystal will always have six sides, the arms can branch off in new directions\u2014but since each arm travels through the same atmospheric conditions, they form in identical patterns. (Sometimes two snowflakes team up when forming or extra growth is layered onto the same six-armed framework, giving the appearance of 12 arms.)\n<\/p>\n

A capped column type with two symmetrical, hexagonal caps on opposite ends.
\nCredit: <\/p>\n

ChaoticMind75 \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Snowflakes can also take on shapes that veer from the classic star shapes. Column and needle forms still have six sides, since this occurs at the molecular level as ice crystals form in a hexagonal lattice. But column-shaped crystals grow lengthwise instead of outward into arms.\n<\/p>\n

A star plate snowflake with hexagonal symmetry, short arms, and complex details.
\nCredit: <\/p>\n

ChaoticMind75 \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kljatov explains<\/a>\u00a0that he photographs the snowflakes on a balcony at his house. Many are on a glass surface, but the photos of bright snowflakes on dark backgrounds, like the ones shown here, are shot on black woolen fabric using the natural light of a cloudy sky.\n<\/p>\n

A flat cluster with two stellar dendrites with similar structures.
\nCredit: <\/p>\n

ChaoticMind75 \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

While each of these snowflakes existed for just a moment, thanks to a patient eye and a bit of winter light, we have the chance to study their fleeting intricacy. And now, the next time you notice a snowflake on your sleeve, you can take a closer look and marvel at its seemingly impossible design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s easy to be swept up in awe when taking in an expansive landscape or a sky blazing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":{"0":"post-370187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}