Wilson Alwyn “Snowflake” Bentley (February 9, 1865 – December 23, 1931), born in Jericho, Vermont, is the first known photographer of snowflakes. He perfected a process of catching flakes on black velvet in such a way that their images could be captured before they either melted or sublimated.

http://usasearch.gov/search?v:project=firstgov-noaa-images&query=wilson+bentley&x=0&y=0