Capturing the One-of-a-Kind Beauty of Snowflakes - University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Jason Persoff, MD, listens to storms successful overmuch the aforesaid mode helium listens to patients: unhurriedly, questioningly, observing details that bespeak inheritance and biology elements influencing and shaping the contiguous moment.

And conscionable arsenic his patients person anatomy and physiology that origin into his attraction decisions, storms besides person a assemblage and a operation that pass everything from however helium sets his camera and wherever helium aims it, to however agelong helium stands connected his structure with a achromatic wool sock extended into a storm, catching snowflakes.

“My neighbors mightiness deliberation it’s a small weird,” Persoff admits.

Persoff, an subordinate prof of hospital medicine successful the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is simply a nationally and internationally recognized storm chaser of much than 2 decades who has carved a unsocial niche astatine the nexus of his passions for utmost meteorology and photography.

He is peculiarly known for his bonzer macro photographs of snowflakes that specify the fascinating item and fleeting quality of idiosyncratic flakes. A display of his photography titled “Every One Is Unique: Photographs by Jason Persoff, MD” volition beryllium unfastened January 31 to March 23 successful the Fulginiti Pavilion Art Gallery connected the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.

“One of the astir important things astir my photography is it gets radical to intermission and consider,” Persoff explains. “When I’m holding my camera, it’s similar a lukewarm sweater connected a acold day, it’s conscionable comfortable. It besides keeps maine mindful and grounded successful the moment. Photography allows maine to person and past to stock the astir unthinkable experiences.”

Capturing upwind arsenic a feeling

For arsenic agelong arsenic helium tin remember, Persoff has been mesmerized by storms. Growing up successful Aurora, helium was fascinated by the tornadoes that sometimes touched down there. He recalls watching “Night of the Twisters,” a documentary astir deadly F5 tornados that touched down successful Xenia, Ohio, successful April 1974, successful astir apt 2nd people “and I was hooked,” helium recalls. “I ever wanted to acquisition them and I got excited erstwhile the sirens went off.”

Around the aforesaid time, helium was cultivating a increasing involvement successful photography, truthful his parents gave him a Polaroid camera for his eighth birthday.

“I loved taking photos and I loved that Polaroid, but you’d get 10 shots and that’s that,” helium says. “And usually astatine slightest 1 of them would beryllium wholly screwed up. My dada had an SLR Pentax that helium fto maine get 1 day, truthful I took a clump of pictures and helium was beauteous impressed with the quality.”

Persoff’s dada encouraged him to prevention for his ain SLR, which helium did and bought his ain Pentax successful 5th grade. In the outpouring of that year, a bid of thunderstorms surged crossed Aurora “and I retrieve trying to framework the clouds to seizure the feeling of these unthinkable storms,” helium says. “I tin retrieve consciously reasoning astir that, and it benignant of began my travel to framework the entity arsenic a feeling oregon an emotion, arsenic an experience.”

Loving wintertime again

Eating meal 1 time arsenic an undergraduate, Persoff work a communicative successful USA Today astir 2 tempest chasers and the proverbial lightning struck. “Up until then, I’d ne'er considered the anticipation that you don’t person to enactment static, that you tin determination with the weather,” Persoff says.

Not agelong after, helium met his woman and they began tempest chasing portion helium was successful aesculapian school, Persoff learning done proceedings and mistake however to sprout unreality formations and babe tornadoes and forks of lightning.

“I could spell done six rolls of movie and person nary lightning bolt,” helium remembers with a laugh. “Or, if I did person 1 it would beryllium retired of focus. Fortunately, determination were these one-hour photograph places wherever you lone had to wage for the photos you kept, truthful I ever sought those out.”

After moving to Florida for his residency and his archetypal fewer years connected unit astatine a hospital, Persoff and his household returned to Colorado, wherever helium recovered that helium did not bask the snow.

“It was amusive arsenic a kid, but by the clip I got to aesculapian schoolhouse it sucked truthful atrocious due to the fact that I had to thrust to antithetic hospitals and I learned to really hatred the winter,” helium says. “When we came backmost to Colorado, I knew I had to find thing that would assistance maine bask wintertime.”

Perusing the net 1 day, helium came crossed a photograph of a snowflake taken by Canadian lensman Don Komarechka. That cannot beryllium a existent snowflake, Persoff remembers thinking, but it was. He reached retired to Komarechka, who began giving Persoff pointers, and bought Komarechka’s publication “Sky Crystals: Unraveling the Mysteries of Snowflakes.”

“So, I tried photographing a fewer snowflakes,” helium says, “and present I perfectly emotion wintertime.”

Seeing each detail

Geography plays a important relation successful Persoff’s emotion for winter. Northern Colorado has the close operation of temperature, altitude, and humidity for stellar dendrites, a somewhat uncommon benignant of snowflake with six branches and fern-like crystal structures emanating from them.

“Most snowfall is not beautiful,” Persoff says. “You whitethorn get a batch of small pellets but not existent flakes, truthful we’re truly fortunate present and up northbound into the Canadian Rockies that we get stellar dendrites.”

Armed with tips from Komarechka, arsenic good arsenic his ain cognition of photography and weather, Persoff embarked connected a travel of learning much with each storm. He learned that extending a achromatic wool sock into the falling snowfall tin assistance him drawback idiosyncratic flakes, which helium photographs with a ringing light, sets of hold tubes connected his lens, and boundless patience.

Not each tempest yields a snowflake representation worthy keeping, helium has learned, and releasing the shutter is usually the archetypal successful a multi-step process. Some of his astir intricate and elaborate last photographs are the effect of arsenic galore arsenic 40 images layered connected apical of each different during the photograph editing process.

Persoff besides elaborate his snowflake photography process successful a series of YouTube videos that screen topics similar however to airy snowflakes, the instrumentality to use, and however to bash it each connected a budget.

“I deliberation astir Don Komarechka, who was truthful benignant to thatch me, and I consciousness similar I privation to wage it forward,” Persoff says. “It’s not for maine to person a copyright connected what snowfall looks like. I privation radical to halt and bask this. So often, we lone woody with the consequences of it, and we’re getting ticked disconnected by the crystal connected the roadworthy and the inconvenience. But erstwhile you see the trillions of these flakes falling, and each 1 unsocial and truthful beauteous and transient.

“Much arsenic I’ll walk clip listening to a patient’s story, erstwhile I’m successful the infinitesimal photographing a snowflake, I’m taking the clip to spot each detail, and it’s truly opened up my world. It allows maine to beryllium present, to beryllium lone successful that moment, and to truly see.”