Jessica Crabtree

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.” – Ansel Adams

BBC News: Rare lenticular clouds over West Yorkshire (Photo Gallery)

Lenticular clouds form when a moist air mass moves downwind of a mountain range where it reaches the dew point, causing quick condensation. This is why they are so often seen capping a mountain peak. Their odd shape and apparently low altitude account for their common identification as space ships.

This page on WeatherVortex.com has a very good picture gallery of some amazing lenticular effects from all over the world.

(Google Images)

From the Cornell Ornithology Lab’s photo contest – a beautiful shot of a female Northern Flicker, taken by Gary Mueller.

Snowflakes, to many, are the essence of beauty: spontaneous, intricate, and ephemeral. The simple phenomenon of frozen water crystals is so captivating to some that they have spent thousands of hours studying how they form. Only recently have we been able to appreciate up close the truly breathtaking wonder of the tiny delicate specks that fall en masse (or maybe not in such masses, depending on where you live). Each insignificant nothing in an expanse of sky, snowdrift, or meltwater is a lost little wonder of the universe.

A Blink in Time

The earliest recorded studies of snowflakes date back to China in the first century BCE. Later, rudimentary sketches of crystal structures first appeared around the time that early microscopes made close observation possible for European scientists. But it was the camera that really gave the humble snowflake its well-deserved place in the spotlight. One of the pioneers of this field was Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley (1865-1931) who made thousands of unique photomicrographs on black velvet (his photos were widely used by the scientific community and today are in the public domain). An 1885 photograph by Bentley is believed to be the first time a snowflake was captured by camera. So passionate was Bentley in the pursuit of the snowflake’s elusive beauty, the elderly photographer died of pneumonia after tramping through a blizzard for six hours with his camera.

Blueprint of a snowflake

A snowflake is essentially a molecule of water vapor crystallized by freezing temperatures. The more molecules accreted together, the more complex the form. Snowflakes most often develop six-sided figures because the layout of a water molecule and its ratio of oxygen and hydrogen atoms affects the way the molecules bond with each other in a crystal lattice. Snowflakes form in a cloud when the H20 is supercooled (around 14 F) and water condenses into droplets. The remaining vapor molecules cling to the water droplets and to each other as they begin to crystallize. In essence it’s more accurate to say that snowflakes are pieces of cloud, rather than mere frozen raindrops – which of course would be sleet.

This diagram illustrates how temperature and moisture affect the formation of snow (courtesy of Caltech’s Snowflake Study page):

Sorting infinity

As you might imagine, snowflakes come in so many forms that classifying them is no easy task. Many come in unfamiliar shapes with no resemblance to the famous “dendrite” types with their intricate fractal branches.

There are a number of basic snowflake forms: simple polygons; needles and rods; capped columns that look like spools of thread; clustered bullet-shaped snowflakes; and lumpy, irregular flakes of frozen water droplets. Some flakes form in a three-dimensional shape like a Christmas tree star.

Everyone knows the saying that “No two snowflakes are alike” – just like human fingerprints. But snowflake experts say that this very well may be a myth. It’s not as though there is a world database of “flake prints” to prove it; after all, if there were lots of identical crystal patterns hanging around out there, could we really expect to know about it?

Since nature favors diversity – and since there is a nearly infinite combination of variables affecting temperature, humidity, and other atmospheric conditions – it’s more likely that any two snowflakes will share only a passing similarity. There are more than enough crystal patterns to go around!

Psychological snow?

Finally, there is some research done by Mr. Masaru Emoto, who claims that snowflake formation is determined not only by temperature and air movement, but by mood. He has theorized that water responds to music, speech, and even human emotion, to create crystals that are correspondingly more or less aesthetically pleasing. Most serious academics ridicule this hypothesis, since the studies are based chiefly on the subjective taste of the researcher, perhaps blurring the line between control and variable – and because the results cannot be successfully reproduced in experiments.

If Mr. Emoto’s research has proved one thing, it seems to be that humans are at least as open to the power of suggestion as snowflakes are. Maybe it’s just pleasing to think that snowflakes could be as much a marvel to themselves are they are to us.

The next time you have the chance to see a cascade of the fluffy white stuff, I can be pretty sure you won’t be giving much thought to molecular geometry. You could always put on some of your favorite music and enjoy the show – maybe you won’t end up with happier snowflakes, but a moment to savor some of nature’s simple wonders is always a good call.

Snowflake photos from Wilson Bentley’s Official Site (Public Domain)

SnowCrystals.com – the definitive site for snowflake studies (Caltech’s project page)

Newscientist.com: Snowflakes as you’ve never seen them before with photography by Kenneth Libbrecht of Caltech

Snowflake “Bentley” Official Site

Wikipedia: Snowflake

EarthSky.org: How to take photos of snowflakes

Web Design Depot – a collection of more modern (but equally beautiful) snowflake macro shots

I consider myself fortunate to live in a region where I get a little taste of winter splendor each year. It’s not quite the Arctic here, but not quite the tropics – so I’ll gladly put up with a bit of chill and slush to get the best of both worlds in a humid-subtropical mountain climate.

Ice sculptures in Banff National Park, Alberta – Photo by Stacy Conaway

Of course there are some REAL winter junkies out there – and though you’re probably outnumbered by sun-loving snowbirds who migrate (at least in their dreams) to more southerly latitudes as the days get shorter, you know there’s little that can compare to the awesome sparkling splendor of a snowy landscape, urban or rural. Whether it’s the glitz and nostalgia of the holiday season, or the pristine cleanness of the crisp air and a soft blanket of snow, there’s a certain subtle magic that no other time of year can offer.

So here’s to lovers of winter; feast to your hearts’ content on snowy snapshots and festive photography from places in the world where folks know how to do winter up just right.

National Geographic: In Praise of Winter

Prestvannet Lake, Norway – Photo by Einar Nilsen
You’ve got to take winter seriously when it brings darkness much of the year, as it does in Norway. Be sure to see the gallery of Scandinavia photos.

This isn’t exactly an art tip – but it’s useful for photographers, researchers, or even artists like me who use a lot of reference photos. (Really I’m a pack rat for good photos and I almost never delete them once I save a copy.) If you’re using a photo from the internet as a reference for an artwork, you of course need to pay attention to the rights status of the work, and always contact the creator for permission if in doubt. But what happens to that stash of saved pictures stored on your PC?

An easy way to keep track of the photo’s source once you’ve saved a copy is to use the “Details” fields in photo properties. This will allow you to enter an author, date, and other pertinent information, so you will never be in doubt months down the line, wondering where you got that photo, left trying to track it down to find the author. I make a habit of copy + pasting the source URL in the photo’s “Description” when I save it, so as long as the original is still online I can visit the source for information.

One great thing about this is that the information will stick to the photo wherever it goes – whether it stays in “My Photos” folder, or whether I share it on my Blog. Just be sure to enter the info as soon as you download it – that way you won’t have to remember later.

These days there are lots of photo resources available in the public domain, and also with various Creative Commons licenses that are free to use with certain stipulations, such as author credits. If you decide to store these pieces for later reference, it’s a good idea to sort them – e.g., keep a “Public Domain” folder, a separate “Creative Commons” folder, and one for protected pieces you have permission to use.

Please remember to respect the rights of other artists in using their works, whether online or otherwise. Attribute photographic works wherever possible to help ensure continuity of information.

See more info on public domain works and intellectual property rights in my post series Artists and Copyright Law.

Brown bear cub in snow, from Gary Lackie’s photostream on Flickr. Doesn’t look like the Alaskan cold bothers this little fellow a bit, does it?

“A definition of a professional photographer: A ‘pro’ NEVER shows anybody the mistakes.” (Anonymous )