Science can attribute the notion that no two snowflakes are alike, to the work of Vermont farmer Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley. As early as 1610, scientists had begun studying the basic structure of the snowflake. But Bentley made history in 1885 when he produced a "photomicrograph" of an individual flake. For the first time, the intricacies and variations of snowflake structure could be documented.

From the time he was fifteen, Bentley used a microscope and examining snowflakes during snowfalls, finding seemingly infinite variations of their basic six-cornered structure. He tried to document the snowflakes by drawing them, but they tended to melt before he could finish. He soon abandoned drawing in favoring photography.

To take his photographs, Bentley used a bellows camera, that is a portable camera with a pleated extension joining the lens and the film plane.

"Dodging and burning" is a technique photographers use to lighten and darken specific areas on a print. The camera's accordion-like body allowed him to maneuver the lens so that it connected directly to the eyepiece of his microscope. Bentley would collect the snowflakes, putting them on a microscope slide and snap a photo.

Collecting the snowflakes wasn't exactly simple. To cushion the snowflakes' fall, Bentley caught them on a velvet-covered tray. Then, using a feather to transfer each flake to a slide. After Bentley took a photo, he put the negative aside to develop later.

Per snowfall, he could photograph an impressive number of snowflakes.

Bentley, nothing if not meticulous, would later duplicate the original negative and scrape away the dark emulsion that surrounded the image of each flake. Then he would place the doctored duplicate onto a clear glass plate and print it. This method changed the background of the image from white to black, accentuating the details of the photographed flake. Between 1885 and 1931, Bentley repeated this painstaking process, nonetheless producing about 5,000 photomicrographs of snowflakes. Of course, not one of Bentley's flakes looks exactly the same as another.

Science can attribute the notion that no two snowflakes are alike, to the work of Vermont farmer Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley. As early as 1610, scientists had begun studying the basic structure of the snowflake. But Bentley made history in 1885 when he produced a "photomicrograph" of an individual flake. For the first time, the intricacies and variations of snowflake structure could be documented.

From the time he was fifteen, Bentley used a microscope and examining snowflakes during snowfalls, finding seemingly infinite variations of their basic six-cornered structure. He tried to document the snowflakes by drawing them, but they tended to melt before he could finish. He soon abandoned drawing in favoring photography.

To take his photographs, Bentley used a bellows camera, that is a portable camera with a pleated extension joining the lens and the film plane.

"Dodging and burning" is a technique photographers use to lighten and darken specific areas on a print. The camera's accordion-like body allowed him to maneuver the lens so that it connected directly to the eyepiece of his microscope. Bentley would collect the snowflakes, putting them on a microscope slide and snap a photo.

Collecting the snowflakes wasn't exactly simple. To cushion the snowflakes' fall, Bentley caught them on a velvet-covered tray. Then, using a feather to transfer each flake to a slide. After Bentley took a photo, he put the negative aside to develop later.

Per snowfall, he could photograph an impressive number of snowflakes.

Bentley, nothing if not meticulous, would later duplicate the original negative and scrape away the dark emulsion that surrounded the image of each flake. Then he would place the doctored duplicate onto a clear glass plate and print it. This method changed the background of the image from white to black, accentuating the details of the photographed flake. Between 1885 and 1931, Bentley repeated this painstaking process, nonetheless producing about 5,000 photomicrographs of snowflakes. Of course, not one of Bentley's flakes looks exactly the same as another.

Science can attribute the notion that no two snowflakes are alike, to the work of Vermont farmer Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley. As early as 1610, scientists had begun studying the basic structure of the snowflake. But Bentley made history in 1885 when he produced a "photomicrograph" of an individual flake. For the first time, the intricacies and variations of snowflake structure could be documented.(3)

From the time he was fifteen, Bentley used a microscope and examining snowflakes during snowfalls, finding seemingly infinite variations of their basic six-cornered structure. He tried to document the snowflakes by drawing them, but they tended to melt before he could finish. He soon abandoned drawing in favoring photography.

To take his photographs, Bentley used a bellows camera, that is a portable camera with a pleated extension joining the lens and the film plane.

"Dodging and burning" is a technique photographers use to lighten and darken specific areas on a print. The camera's accordion-like body allowed him to maneuver the lens so that it connected directly to the eyepiece of his microscope. Bentley would collect the snowflakes, putting them on a microscope slide and snap a photo.

Collecting the snowflakes wasn't exactly simple. To cushion the snowflakes' fall, Bentley caught them on a velvet-covered tray. Then, using a feather to transfer each flake to a slide. After Bentley took a photo, he put the negative aside to develop later.

Per snowfall, he could photograph an impressive number of snowflakes.

Bentley, nothing if not meticulous, would later duplicate the original negative and scrape away the dark emulsion that surrounded the image of each flake. Then he would place the doctored duplicate onto a clear glass plate and print it. This method changed the background of the image from white to black, accentuating the details of the photographed flake. Between 1885 and 1931, Bentley repeated this painstaking process, nonetheless producing about 5,000 photomicrographs of snowflakes. Of course, not one of Bentley's flakes looks exactly the same as another.

Science can attribute the notion that no two snowflakes are alike, to the work of Vermont farmer Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley. As early as 1610, scientists had begun studying the basic structure of the snowflake. But Bentley made history in 1885 when he produced a "photomicrograph" of an individual flake. For the first time, the intricacies and variations of snowflake structure could be documented.

From the time he was fifteen, Bentley used a microscope and examining snowflakes during snowfalls, finding seemingly infinite variations of their basic six-cornered structure. He tried to document the snowflakes by drawing them, but they tended to melt before he could finish. He soon abandoned drawing in favoring photography.

To take his photographs, Bentley used a bellows camera, that is a portable camera with a pleated extension joining the lens and the film plane.

"Dodging and burning" is a technique photographers use to lighten and darken specific areas on a print. The camera's accordion-like body allowed him to maneuver the lens so that it connected directly to the eyepiece of his microscope. Bentley would collect the snowflakes, putting them on a microscope slide and snap a photo.

Collecting the snowflakes wasn't exactly simple. To cushion the snowflakes' fall, Bentley caught them on a velvet-covered tray. Then, using a feather to transfer each flake to a slide. After Bentley took a photo, he put the negative aside to develop later.

Per snowfall, he could photograph an impressive number of snowflakes.

Bentley, nothing if not meticulous, would later duplicate the original negative and scrape away the dark emulsion that surrounded the image of each flake. Then he would place the doctored duplicate onto a clear glass plate and print it. This method changed the background of the image from white to black, accentuating the details of the photographed flake. Between 1885 and 1931, Bentley repeated this painstaking process, nonetheless producing about 5,000 photomicrographs of snowflakes. Of course, not one of Bentley's flakes looks exactly the same as another.

Science can attribute the notion that no two snowflakes are alike, to the work of Vermont farmer Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley. As early as 1610, scientists had begun studying the basic structure of the snowflake. But Bentley made history in 1885 when he produced a "photomicrograph" of an individual flake. For the first time, the intricacies and variations of snowflake structure could be documented.

From the time he was fifteen, Bentley used a microscope and examining snowflakes during snowfalls, finding seemingly infinite variations of their basic six-cornered structure. He tried to document the snowflakes by drawing them, but they tended to melt before he could finish. He soon abandoned drawing in favoring photography.

To take his photographs, Bentley used a bellows camera, that is a portable camera with a pleated extension joining the lens and the film plane.

"Dodging and burning" is a technique photographers use to lighten and darken specific areas on a print. The camera's accordion-like body allowed him to maneuver the lens so that it connected directly to the eyepiece of his microscope. Bentley would collect the snowflakes, putting them on a microscope slide and snap a photo.

Collecting the snowflakes wasn't exactly simple. To cushion the snowflakes' fall, Bentley caught them on a velvet-covered tray. Then, using a feather to transfer each flake to a slide. After Bentley took a photo, he put the negative aside to develop later.

Per snowfall, he could photograph an impressive number of snowflakes.

Bentley, nothing if not meticulous, would later duplicate the original negative and scrape away the dark emulsion that surrounded the image of each flake. Then he would place the doctored duplicate onto a clear glass plate and print it. This method changed the background of the image from white to black, accentuating the details of the photographed flake. Between 1885 and 1931, Bentley repeated this painstaking process, nonetheless producing about 5,000 photomicrographs of snowflakes. Of course, not one of Bentley's flakes looks exactly the same as another.