22 NEBRASKAland • DECEMBER 2018
or an oil spot," he said. "It can only be seen using reflected light. And
because that hadn't really been explored heavily in snowflake photography
until I started doing it, it was a huge mystery to me as to where these colors
were coming from. It felt good to kind of be discovering things like that."
For Komarechka, it's not only the beauty of snowflakes that's appealing;
it's also the chance to research and truly understand his subject. Science
never appealed to him in school, but "as soon as you give it a practical use, it
becomes something entirely different," he said.
To share all that he has learned, Komarechka wrote a 300-page book
including the science behind snowflakes, as well as his process of shooting
these composite images. While his method requires patience and time to
learn, once you understand the technique, "it's like riding a bike," he said. "It
becomes muscle memory."
While Komarechka hoped to inspire others to take up snowflake
photography with his book, he also anticipated most people would be
interested in just looking at the coffee table photographs in the back. And
that's OK.
"Perhaps you will be inspired to put on your black mittens the next time it
snows, grab a magnifying glass and see what you can find," writes Kenneth
G. Libbrecht in the book's foreword. "Each snowfall provides a unique
exhibit of frozen art, and the show deserves an audience."
In Komarechka's work, you'll get a front-row seat.
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