20 stunning microphotographs

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Imagine shrinking a hundred, or maybe a thousand times, and starting to explore the world from a new angle. Modern science is still a long way from performing experiments like this, but the authors at Depositphotos have already created a macro world for you with the help of their cameras.

Check out these 20 amazing macro and micro photos. Can you guess what’s in the photos? But it’s not worth reading the subtitles. A small spoiler: the image selection contains plant cells, sugar crystals, honey and more.

Dead corals are very interesting not only for seafarers and jewelers, but also for photographers. As we zoom in on the surface of a fossilized coral, we begin to notice patterns that hypnotize.

The largest snowflake discovered by scientists has a diameter of about 38 centimeters. Of course, you don’t necessarily need a macro lens or a microscope to photograph an object this size. The same cannot be said for snowflakes that weigh a milligram.

Familiar items that seem monotonous at first have great potential in microphotography. For example, this is what a frozen drop of apple juice looks like.

If bees could see the world as we do, they would still not enjoy the structural beauty that this substance possesses. With the help of a microscope, we can sink into a small drop of honey. Meanwhile, a beehive produces up to 40 kg of honey per year.

Picea, better known as pine, is one of the most common trees on our planet. Annually, it eliminates 10 to 15% of the needles, which grow back in the spring. A needle was photographed by an author at Depositphotos.

People have been using sugar for thousands of years, but thanks to light microscopes, we can get a closer look at what it looks like. There is something very cosmic about the surface of a sugar crystal. Furthermore, astronomers have even recognized sugar as space dust.

In school, you learned that water turns to ice at 0°C or less. However, this rule is not always valid. In particular, pure water remains liquid at a temperature of −48.3°C (ultra-rapid freezing) if it is in an absolutely stable state. In this photo, you can see what crystallized water looks like.

Now it’s the plants’ turn. This is what tulip cells look like under a microscope. A tulip is a flower that only blooms for 3 to 5 days once a year. However, if you cut off your bud and place it in a vase, it will continue to grow and seek light. Tulips can be found in different colors.

Cells from different plants may look different, but they all have a common structure. Plants are unicellular and multicellular (as in this photo). Until recently, we didn’t have the opportunity to zoom in very closely on a cell to the point of being able to look beneath its membrane. For this reason, it was believed that there was a void inside any cell.

Chloroplasts are organelles within a plant cell and are responsible for photosynthesis. In this photo, you can see the process of photosynthesis. This process is typical for most plants and some algae. It is the chloroplast that makes plants look green.

Many people consume chia seeds, but few have seen them through a microscope. Chia contains twice as much calcium as cow’s milk, and the surface of the seed is porous and not smooth and shiny.

Currently, blue coral polyps are almost extinct. The iron salts that are part of its composition give it a unique blue hue. Blue corals inhabit the Indo-Pacific coast and are very demanding of the environment. This is a rare photo of this type of coral.

This photo shows a well-known semi-precious stone used in jewelry, natural agate. Agate has been known and used by man for over six thousand years: jewelry, furniture and dishes were made from this stone.

Calcite is another well-known mineral that you can find in a variety of colors. There are over 700 types of calcite. The Great Barrier Reef, which stretches over 2,000 kilometers along the Australian coast, is also made up of calcite. And that’s what they look like up close.

Sulfur is one of the few chemical elements found in its purest form in nature. And now you can learn what sulfur crystals look like when viewed under a microscope. Surprisingly, because of the sulfur, many foods have strong odors (eg, bad eggs). And at the same time, pure sulfur has no odor.

Everyone has taken paracetamol at least once in their lives. But many people don’t know that this pain reliever and antipyretic was invented 100 years ago, in the 1950’s. Now you know that acetaminophen not only helps with fever, it also looks pretty good under a microscope.

Most insects have a faceted eye structure and have a keen eye. For example, the insect in this photo can recognize ultraviolet rays and detect high-frequency flashing lights 5x faster than humans.

Butterflies and flowers are popular subjects in macro photography. Photographers experiment with compositions and color palettes to make their work more expressive.

Magnolia is a prehistoric plant known for its vibrant, long flowers. Magnolia trees bloom in mid-spring and even appear in northern regions, although they grow naturally only in tropical and subtropical climates.

Many love to watch a dandelion transform, but few have seen it happen up close. The seeds of a dandelion have an umbrella-like structure that allows them to spread and germinate over large areas. Each seed resembles a small dandelion.

Unlike macrophotography, which allows you to appreciate objects at a 1:1 scale and available to everyone who has a camera, microphotography requires special equipment such as microscopes. Typically, the zoom range of these devices is between 10x and 3,500x, which allows you to see the structure of crystals and cells.

If the photos above inspired you to try small subject photography, we recommend that you start with the macro photography genre. Even a smooth zoom from a standard camera or cell phone lens will allow you to experience this.