I began photographing snowflakes in the winter of 2002-03. I fell in love with the challenge of photographing these natural, and fleeting objects that fell in such random ways in each storm. For me, the hunt in pursuing a "difficult subject" completely seperate from the technical challenges makes it all very exciting.
Each winter, new opportunities present themselves as the season unfolds. It is really a "wait and see" what happens event which keeps me anticipating, and watching the weather forecast all of the time. Snowflake photography variables include: when will it snow, what are air temperatures while snowing, and whether there are crystals worth photographing in the snow bands. These and other things such as: am I awake or available when it is snowing all contribute to the challenge. When I am successful in making photographs, it is an awesome feeling.
Photographing snowflakes has opened many doors for me. I was featured by CNN and Mashable as well as others shared below at the end of this post. You can see some examples by following the links shared below.
February 16, 2016
Snowflakes in a Twenty Inch Snowfall
Snowflakes from the Winter 2014-15
| In July of 2016, Patty Cost and I published Michael Photographs a Snowflake. You can watch a YouTube Video sharing how the book came to be that was made a Biocommunications Association meeting in 2017. |  |
I began photographing snowflakes at the request of a former student Emily Marshall in 2003. Each November I get really excited about making the next great snowflake photomicrograph. You can read a Blog post where I share my discovery of this obsession by following this link. So many great things have come from this obsession.
Michael Photographs a Snowflake was created to share the beauty and science of snowflakes but I have been photographing through a microscope for more than four decades. My work has been featured in Time magazine, on CNN, Musee Magazine, and the Weather Channel.
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In November of 2020, Schiffer Publishing released my newest book, Snowflake Science Activity Book. Different than Michael Photographs a Snowflake, this book provides STEM activities for 7-10 year olds. Patty Cost and I along with Lizzie Harper have created something very special in this treasure. |
Fine Art Prints
I have created more than 500 pictures since 2003. Most are published on Instagram and can be seen by following this link. Signed fine art prints of various sizes are also available. They are printed by BookSmart Studio owned and operated by a former student, Eric Kunsman. Please email directly at michael.peres@rit.edu if interested.
Greeting Cards
The Cary Press created a series of cards of my snowflakes.
Purchase cards from them by following this link.
Are you interested in photographing snowflakes?
You can read about how I photograph snowflakes beginning in 2003 by following this link.
Here are a few other links to articles sharing my methods.
BPC Bulletin article 2010
Photo.Net February 2014
The Journal of the the Royal Microscopical Society
Photography Galleries
My Publications
My Projects
My Bio and CV
Acknowledgements
Contact information
February - May 2017
Snowflakes Up Close was displayed at the Rochester Museum and Science Center.
You can view media features sharing my snowflake photography
by following links shared below
November 13, 2013
RIT University News Story Click here
January 8, 2013
Rochester NY TV YNN News Click here
February 2, 2014
Rochester Newspaper Democrat and Chronicle feature Click here
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April 4, 2014
Weather Channel Click here
January 8, 2015
Photo.Net feature
CNN February 11, 2015 Click here
February 11, 2015
CNNireport feature Click here
October 30, 2014
Nikon Small World Click here
February 13, 2015
The Rider Post Click here
February 17, 2015
Rochester NY TV YNN News Click here
February 23, 2015
Good Day Rochester Fox 31
March 5, 2015
Time LightBox Click here
December 2018
Mashable
January 2019
Earth Sky feature