A Disciplined Approach
Kenneth G Libbrecht is Professor of Physics and Chairman of the Physics Dept. of California Institute of Technology (CALTEC).
His professional interests include the Physics of Crystal Growth and Pattern Formation in Ice - an important project which has produced these astonishing images.
Snowflakes - or more accurately ‘snow crystals’ - are microscopic miracles of nature. It's a frequently-quoted truism that no two are identical, not that it really matters; the important thing is that things become much more interesting when several crystals get together, forming flakes. Where would we ski without them?
A flake is born
Snow crystals form when minute water droplets forming a cloud start to condense and freeze magically into a symmetrical crystalline form derived from our old friend H2O.
Inevitably, the minuscule crystals get tossed around on the currents of air, picking up more freezing moisture which adheres to extend the initial crystal outwards. Gradually they form the familiar classic six-pointed outlines, in a more or less symmetrical pattern.
Click here for an introduction to artificial snow-making.
Turning pale
Like most crystalline substances (including household items such as sugar and salt, etc.) individual frozen water droplets are actually almost completely transparent. Their surfaces do reflect light, however, and as more of them come together so they reflect more and more light, eventually appearing white.
As every trained artist knows, however, every single surface reflects its surroundings to some extent, which is why there are in fact no true whites or blacks in nature.
Frozen rain?
Not at all. If a cloud simply produces raindrops which then freeze on their way down to earth, the result is much less interesting: sleet or hail-stones, depending on atmospheric conditions. Unsurprisingly, there’s no shortcut to something as complex as a perfect snowflake.
We wish to thank Kenneth G Libbrecht for kind permission to reproduce examples of his remarkable snow crystal images.
You can see many more, along with all you've ever wanted to know about the not-so-humble snowflake at: www.snowcrystals.com
Choosing a camera is no easy task, until you look beyond the styling and consider things like versatility and picture quality. You wouldn’t believe how capable some of the compacts have become, and they may well be all you need. Once you get hooked, though, you’ll probably find yourself wanting more, like interchangeable lenses and an accurate viewfinder, for example. So it'll be an SLR for you.