Let it Snow

Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley (1865-1931) lived on a farm in Vermont where the annual snowfall was about 120 inches. Fascinated by minute details of the natural world surrounding him, he studied nature closely. After receiving a microscope for his 15th birthday, he turned his attention to snowflakes. Four years later, he made the first successful photograph of a snowflake, and so invented microphotography.

Standing in the cold for hours at a time so the crystals wouldn’t melt, he would patiently catch a tray of snowflakes. With a feather, he would position them one at a time under the lens of his microscope, which he had connected to a camera, and take the shot. Each exposure required a minute and a half. Over his lifetime he photographed over 5000 snow crystals in all their infinite variety.

A handful of his snowflakes decorate our frosty luminary.