Snowflake Bentley

SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY

Snowflake Bentley is famous because he was the first person to photograph a snowflake. His name was Wilson, and his mother was his teacher until he was 14 years old. He grew up in Vermont on a farm. When he was 15 he bought a camera because he wanted to take pictures of snowflakes. He wasn’t successful at first, but he kept trying and figured out how to get the picture before the snowflake melted. He took hundreds of pictures of snowflakes.

The best snowstorm of his life happened on Valentines Day in 1928. Wilson took over a hundred pictures of snowflakes over the two-day storm. He called the storm “ a gift from King Winter.

Wilson also took pictures in the summer. He took pictures of spider webs and insects. He also hung up a sheet and did a slideshow for his neighbors on summer nights.

He discovered that no two snowflakes are exactly alike. He loved what he did! Many colleges bought his pictures of snowflakes and lots of artists used his photographs to draw pictures of snowflakes.

Snowflake Bentley died from pneumonia after he had walked home in a blizzard. But he will always be remembered as the first person to capture a snowflake.