"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand ― and melting like a snowflake. Let us use it before it is too late."
― Marie Beynon Lyons Ray
I didn't leave home yesterday, and I may not today either—it's turned cold again. As the snow fell in big, slow flakes, I found myself thinking about setting up the macro gear to try and photograph them. There are ways to isolate them—by pre-chilling a dark surface like black foam, velvet, or glass so the flakes don't melt as they land, then using diffused macro lighting to reveal their structure—but these were simply photographed where they had fallen, on my patio table and the rims of my plant pots.
All images © 2026 Mike McDowell