Chelyabinsk Meteor

Marat Akhmetvaleyev was out on a morning photo shoot at one of his favorite spots. Little did he know he had walked right into the path of a meteorite.

Where were these photographs taken, and how did you come to be in that particular place at that particular time?

These photographs were taken on the Miass River, not far from the city park in central Chelyabinsk. This area is especially picturesque in the winter, because the river barely freezes, and the trees are covered with frost on cold days. This time, there had been warm weather for several days, and the night before a fog was rising above the river. Since this place is not far from my house, I am there often. The night before, I planned a morning walk with my camera. The time when the meteor hit is the typical time when landscape photographers take pictures. If it had come half an hour earlier or later, I would not have been shooting pictures and would not have captured these shots.