Snowflakes are stunning examples of natural beauty and testaments to the exacting laws of physics.
Thankfully, almost anyone can grow snowflakes with a soda bottle, some string, a block of dry ice and a little luck. But reproducing the same crystalline growth, time after time after time, is a challenge typically reserved for scientists with a laboratory full of expensive equipment.
Biochemist Linden Gledhill, who works for GlaxoSmithKline by day and experiments in his photography workshop by night, has made a hobby of tackling tough natural subjects with do-it-yourself engineering. Lately he's been toying with manufacturing snowflakes in his basement.
In 2010 the Downingtown, Pennsylvania-based photographer posted his photos of natural snowflakes to Flickr, attracting the attention of Jason Tozer, a professional photographer in the UK. When Tozer asked Gledhill if he could build a snowflake-growing machine for an electronic music video, Gledhill couldn't resist.
"I'd already stalked an ice crystal research group for years when he asked, so it was an easy decision," Gledhill said. "It's incredible to see these things grow, and I wanted to pull it off myself."
Gledhill said he's not wealthy person, nor does the electronic music artist -- Ryan Teague -- have much money sitting around. So Gledhill rigged a device using tossed-out parts from work and junk from his basement, including an old electric camping cooler.
In this gallery, take a tour inside Gledhill's custom-designed icebox.
Above:
Time-Lapse Ice Crystal Growth
Gledhill's snowflake grower needs a few tweaks before he can shoot the video. His early time-lapse photography tests, however, are nonetheless remarkable.Each second represents about 20 minutes of elapsed time.