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25 Beautiful Macro Photography Shots
Macro photography is the art of taking close-up pictures that reveal details which can’t be seen with the naked eye. For example, while we can see the fly on the wall, our eyes aren’t equipped to make out the fine details of the hairs on it’s face. This is where macro photography comes in. It gives us a glimpse into the world of the very small, which goes largely unnoticed by us as we hurriedly shuffle through our day.
In this edition of our Monday Inspiration series we present 25 beautiful examples of macro photography. A round-up of some truly revealing and inspiring macro photographs which are sure to have you marveling at the world around you. You may check out the links at the bottom of this post for further resources on the subject of macro photography.
You may also be interested in the following related posts:
- 35 Beautiful Examples Of Rain Photography
- 45 Beautiful Motion Blur Photos
- Beautiful Black And White Photos
- (Really) Stunning Pictures and Photos
[Offtopic: By the way, did you know that Smashing Magazine has a mobile version? Try it out if you have an iPhone, Blackberry or another capable device.]
25 Beautiful Examples Of Macro Photography
Eye of a Tokay Gecko
“A close-up shot of a Tokay Gecko. Their eyes remind me of old-fashioned keyholes. Thanks for looking!” The photo is taken by Alan M.
La force et la passion
“She felt her strength and passion back by 1 small drop of water.”. The photo is taken by Leon Baas.
High-Tech Jumper
“Jumping spider on a DVD reading my data! Shot with a Canon 20D with a Canon MP-E macro lens.” The photo is taken by Coder.
Bubble Magic
“Close-up of a wet leaf … taken with a Canon Powershot A610 :)” The photo is taken by Sophie.
Lasius Vlavius
“This yellow meadow ant is trying to find a way to dry ground after the rain”. The photo is taken by Leon Baas.
Flower Detail
Close-up of a very colorful flower, shot by MeLissa Stolte.
Frog’s eye
Photos are taken by Justin Dotson.
Dewdrop Refraction
Taken by Brian Valentine.
Water lily
The photo is taken by Chun-Chih Fan (ddsnet).
A flower
The photo is taken by Indah Susanti.
Another vision
The photo is taken by Kristina Buceatchi.
A Flower
The photo is taken by Cyril Cattin.
Crane Fly
This insect looks like something out of a Sci-fi movie.
A flower
The photo is taken by Chan Chen.
Spider
Stunning detail of a spider.
8.365 I saw the sea
The photo is taken by Lux Tenebra.
Water & Rose
Beautiful colors.
Refracted Daisy
You can see the refracted daisy in the blurred background.
Flower in water
Amazing picture of a flower sitting in water. The reflection almost looks surreal.
House fly
Simply wonderful photo.
Red Veined Darter
Truly stunning macro of this insect covered in morning dew. Wow!.
Resources
- Closer and closer
A huge macro photography group on Flickr. - MacroPhotography.org
Articles,gallery,forum and more. - Insect macro photography
Very informative how-to on the subject. - Macro photography on a budget
Get into macro photography without going broke. - Macro Photographers Flickr Pool
- Macro Photos: No Limits
- Water Macro Photography
Related posts
You may also be interested in the following related posts:
Tim Mercer is a photography enthusiast, graphic designer, artist and blogger. His blog offers free resources for the digital artist and graphic designer, as well as tutorials, artist interviews, inspiration and more.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...- 144 Comments
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September 21st, 2008 2:41 pmamazing pictures.. wonder what kind of lens / Cameras/settings they were using ?
Hey , this would make a good topic if you can teach Photography novices few awesome tricks with Digital Photography..
- 3September 21st, 2008 2:47 pm
Awesome! =)
Spiders are ugly! lol
- 4September 21st, 2008 2:52 pm
all great photos but that last one is truly amazing.
- 5September 21st, 2008 2:59 pm
Very beautiful!
- 6
- 7September 21st, 2008 3:26 pm
Wow – just an amazing set of photographs! The last is just mind boggling. The timing to get that shot.
Huge kudos to all the photographers!!
- 8September 21st, 2008 3:40 pm
Wonderful. But i fuckin hate spiders. :|
What was God thinking about when he created spiders? - 9September 21st, 2008 3:46 pm
The last one is great.
The “Flower in Water” (3rd to last) is a well known Photoshop effect. Use your brain people, water doesn’t move like that in such a small area… - 10September 21st, 2008 3:47 pm
wow – I love macro
- 11September 21st, 2008 3:52 pm
I love macro shots, many photos are only point and shoot, but other have so many work behind :)
- 12September 21st, 2008 5:13 pm
THis is jus so cooooooooooooool…. Jus Awesome!!
- 13September 21st, 2008 5:30 pm
Great list of pictures!
- 14September 21st, 2008 6:51 pm
great detail! Hope to see more of em’! thanks smashing! ;)
- 15September 21st, 2008 8:13 pm
realy cool
- 16September 21st, 2008 9:02 pm
Reeaaalllyyy coolll gallery!! The details are sou beautiful… tks smashing mag! =D
- 17
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- 19September 21st, 2008 9:44 pm
Amazing pictures. Just great article.
- 20September 21st, 2008 9:54 pm
Awesome photos lol… Its Pretty cooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllll………..
- 21September 21st, 2008 10:03 pm
Very amazing! I love the shots.
- 22September 21st, 2008 10:05 pm
@Dex
Wonderful. But i fuckin hate spiders. :|
What was God thinking about when he created spiders?I guess if spiders were not there we couldnt have come out with a wonderful movie called Superman! lol Anyways, nice collection of pics..
- 23September 21st, 2008 10:47 pm
Could anybody give an advice what camera to buy (not too expansive) to make such pictures?
- 24September 21st, 2008 10:48 pm
great!!! really impressive work! love it
- 25September 21st, 2008 10:58 pm
wow!
- 26September 21st, 2008 11:21 pm
its very..very.. awesome, i love Crane Fly
- 27September 21st, 2008 11:43 pm
Oh my god, the photos of insects are freakin’ AMAZING. Great job once again Smashing Magazine.
- 28September 22nd, 2008 12:02 am
amazing photos !!!
- 29September 22nd, 2008 12:23 am
eeew…. some are a bit creepy but oh my how do they get some of those shots!!! Amazing stuff.
- 30September 22nd, 2008 1:05 am
Awesome shots. If anyone prefers butterflies to spiders as I do, I’ve got some examples of those here.
- 31September 22nd, 2008 1:07 am
Amazing photos I have never seen such details.
- 32September 22nd, 2008 1:23 am
Fantastic selection! But some of them are edited I guess?
- 33September 22nd, 2008 2:04 am
Impressive!
- 34September 22nd, 2008 2:12 am
amazing shots, the last one is unbelievable! Well done Tim and the Smashing Team a brilliant collection of fascinating photos…
- 35September 22nd, 2008 3:02 am
These are SO amazing – I hope I´ll ever get that far with my own camera!
Thanks for this collection! - 36September 22nd, 2008 3:04 am
As somebody who does a bit of photography, I can honestly say that a good amount of those photographs had used some pretty expensive (USD1400+) lenses. Others were fixed afterwards – still great shots though.
- 37September 22nd, 2008 4:01 am
Einfach genial. Mehr bitte.
- 38September 22nd, 2008 5:30 am
Awesome, I am luving it!
- 39September 22nd, 2008 6:45 am
great photos, loved the cat.
so many of these are flora/fauna, do people ever use macro photography for inanimate things? buildings, reflective surfaces, metals,… does anyone maybe have some examples of these? - 40September 22nd, 2008 7:07 am
some really breathtaking stuff..
- 41September 22nd, 2008 7:12 am
The insects almost seem to pose for this photos, just breathtaking. I’d like to see more pictures like the cat photo, but it seems to be linked to a site with nothing but external links. Which site was this image from?
- 42September 22nd, 2008 7:15 am
very nice
- 43September 22nd, 2008 7:38 am
Love this article! Makes me want to go buy a Macro Lens right now…. Although, the red lily photo looks like it has photoshopped water
- 44September 22nd, 2008 8:35 am
Cool pics! I love Macro photography!
- 45September 22nd, 2008 9:08 am
Absolutely gorgeous works! “Bubble Magic” (the macro of the wet leaf) taken with a humble Canon Powershot A610 proves Walker Evans was right. It’s not the camera, but the brain behind it that matters.
Fantastic shots from some truly talented individuals.
- 46September 22nd, 2008 9:20 am
Not only the quality is good. There are some subjects that take the leading part. That bug with big thick antennae and the cat’s eyes caught from an angle are stunning.
- 47September 22nd, 2008 9:32 am
this is truly awesome! :)
- 48September 22nd, 2008 9:33 am
Really amazing photos.
For all those who hate spiders; sure they are creepy and scary, but they are natures way of keeping the insect population under control. Without them, we’d have too many other little critters around.
- 49September 22nd, 2008 11:27 am
Respect to Igor Siwanowicz, just look at all images @ linked site. Amazing and… some disturbing.
- 50September 22nd, 2008 11:39 am
A great source of photography is megapixel.net (which is based in canada and offers both french and english versions of all their content. They post macro photos from their readers every month.
- 51September 22nd, 2008 12:15 pm
Nice pics.
ps: asking for a thumbs us from SU users will not always get you some and more likely to get you a ‘no rating’ or thumbs down even. Just be aware. - 52September 22nd, 2008 1:28 pm
One of the best posts ever.
- 53September 22nd, 2008 4:47 pm
excellent job!
- 54September 22nd, 2008 4:57 pm
oh…..my god!…
佩服….牛 - 55September 23rd, 2008 1:05 am
Works by Igor Siwanowicz are simply stunning.
- 56September 23rd, 2008 1:26 am
Wooooooooooooooooooooou!!!
- 57September 23rd, 2008 1:29 am
What a ridiculous list of AMAZING pictures!
- 58September 23rd, 2008 1:31 am
I like all the photos.,. great job
- 59September 23rd, 2008 2:46 am
No disclaimer on spiders?
Nice work, but I almost had an heart attack! :O
- 60September 23rd, 2008 4:17 am
the dragonfly is awesome, the dews are like magnifiers attached to the dragonfly
- 61September 23rd, 2008 5:24 am
great shots, love the last one…amazing!
- 62September 23rd, 2008 5:47 am
Move in close and everything is scary beautiful
- 63September 23rd, 2008 5:54 am
These photos have amazing color, balance, and obviously… detail. Macro is a different world.
onwired.com
- 64September 23rd, 2008 6:14 am
The ladybird photo is so powerful. A truly surreal experience when seeing all photos … amazing, simply amazing. Also great to see that Smashing Magazine is crediting the photographers and not just presenting a list of photos without saying who took them. Great stuff guys ! Keep us inspired !!
- 65September 23rd, 2008 7:01 am
The photos are great with brilliant colours – I assume they’ve all been photoshopped?
- 66September 23rd, 2008 7:24 am
amazing photos congratulations team it´s really incredible
- 67September 23rd, 2008 7:57 am
Those are some awesome shots!
- 68September 23rd, 2008 1:55 pm
eeeeew…
hate spiders
- 69September 23rd, 2008 5:36 pm
high macro definition.. cool! what type of lens did u use?
- 70September 23rd, 2008 6:57 pm
great pics
- 71September 23rd, 2008 10:54 pm
TOTALLY AMAZING! — I understand why you guys hate spiders but that hate just doesn’t make sense. They eat a whole lot of disgusting insects–which truly harm our lives. So next time you see a spider, PLEASE SPARE IT!
- 72September 24th, 2008 11:25 am
WOW – stunning pics. Nature IS beautiful!!!
- 73September 24th, 2008 12:14 pm
Wow!
- 74
- 75September 25th, 2008 6:00 am
AMAZING. Oh, and who cares if you hate spiders, that doesn’t make the photos any less breathtaking!
- 76September 25th, 2008 2:27 pm
if you enjoyed these macos take minute to view some other exceptional ones http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/563994337DDoRSf
- 77September 26th, 2008 12:26 pm
Es increible lo que se puede lograr con un Macro estas imagenes estan preciosas
- 78September 29th, 2008 5:57 am
i don’t know… but i don’t like spiders! xD
they r bad little monsters…i preffer the first photo… so… bye bye!
- 79September 29th, 2008 4:02 pm
Stunning! I commend the photographers who have taken the shots in this series for their vision (actually for their macro vision) in seeing beauty even in things considered by many as hideous and monstrous. Simply inspirational!
- 80September 29th, 2008 8:26 pm
I like the last one, very different!
- 81October 1st, 2008 12:34 pm
Superb!!!… Those are some awesome close up.
- 82October 1st, 2008 7:54 pm
Great Collection!!!!
- 83October 4th, 2008 9:20 pm
me kedo kon la marikita
- 84October 6th, 2008 10:30 am
I love the posts here, but being totally afraid of spiders, this post just kills me!
- 85October 15th, 2008 10:40 am
guzel resimler.
- 86October 17th, 2008 8:37 am
why do more people hate spiders than flies?
- 87October 21st, 2008 4:41 am
my god. disclaimer for the spider pictures please!!
but amazing photography.
- 88
- 89October 23rd, 2008 3:33 am
thanks forsharing
- 90October 23rd, 2008 3:34 am
thank!
- 91October 23rd, 2008 9:08 am
The Refracted Daisy and Red Veined Darter photographs are superb designs for a Baccarat milllefiori paperweight. My sincere congratulations to the photographers. Absolutely brilliant!
I’d like to suggest they contact a glass company that produces paperweights. :-)
- 92October 25th, 2008 11:52 am
Those are beautiful and incredibles pictures, congratulations to the photographers, but as I love a lot cats ¨the another vision¨ from Kristina Buceatchi had captured me…
Todas las fotos me parecieron muy bellas e increíbles, felicitaciones a todos los fotógrafos, y claro, como a mi me gustan tanto los gatos, ¨la otra visión¨de Kristina Buceatchi me encantó… - 93November 13th, 2008 12:53 pm
Beautiful photos—but lots are with too much effect.Good for the eyes, of course. To show the capacity of the creaction…but I dont feel that all are arts.Photography is a little bit different.
- 94November 19th, 2008 9:23 pm
SO COOL! 我能和你们交朋友吗？（Can i make friends with you？）
- 95November 20th, 2008 11:56 pm
Not nice.
- 96November 24th, 2008 9:19 am
does anyone know what animal or insect is the one in picture number 13..?
- 97November 25th, 2008 5:09 am
macro=large micro=small
- 98November 26th, 2008 7:16 pm
Amazing and beautiful…
- 99December 2nd, 2008 9:05 am
wow this is sick i love! and i love spiders.. and what’s with the quality it’s way too high
- 100December 9th, 2008 4:29 am
dex, I wonder what God was thinking when he created you?
The photos are fantastic. - 101December 19th, 2008 1:33 am
It’s fantastic photography!! I like too much
- 102December 22nd, 2008 4:23 pm
I’m actually too scared to even look at the rest of the pictures ’cause I saw the spider just now. Nearly gave me a heart attack there. Spiders always seem to come out of nowhere, even on the internet, apparently!
- 103January 6th, 2009 9:55 pm
yes everything is great. except the spiders. yuck!:P
- 104January 7th, 2009 1:39 am
ALUCINANTES!.
AMAZING!I hope to learn enought to be able to take at least one of this pictures in my life.
- 105February 2nd, 2009 9:49 am
SOU FISSURADO EM BOAS FOTOS !
ESTAS COLOCAREI NO MEU ARQUIVO>
VALEU ! - 106February 16th, 2009 3:59 am
WOW… amazing!
- 107February 24th, 2009 9:35 pm
Very cool !!!
- 108February 27th, 2009 3:28 pm
Ohh man so amazing photos..
- 109March 29th, 2009 9:25 am
Awsome!!! Kool photos
Learn taking macro shots
http://markandey.blogspot.com/2009/03/4-photos-to-learn-focusing-subject.html
- 110March 29th, 2009 9:33 am
wow those are really good
- 111April 7th, 2009 12:21 am
really amazing…
- 112April 7th, 2009 3:12 pm
Stunning!
- 113April 12th, 2009 9:13 am
i saw something like this before but this is just as cool
- 114April 15th, 2009 4:35 am
Muito bom…
Fotos impressionantes e com uma riqueza de cores formidável…
parabens - 115April 26th, 2009 7:20 pm
amazing…
- 116April 28th, 2009 3:40 pm
yeah coool…
not sure whats goin on..
everyone else was doin it
i just wanted 2 be included - 117April 28th, 2009 3:49 pm
uhm yeah it is a word.
and im not a homosexual.
that is derogatory to homosexual people everywhere.
haha see if you know what that means.
s my d pop it out like lipstick razor shapr eyelashes on my fashions and blahblahblah… - 118April 28th, 2009 3:52 pm
no… ur stil just makin up words!!!!
god go 2 skool.. and.. adn learn how 2 .. nar i got
nothin.. u won this round butt dnt think ull get the nxt
one…..love ya but…
who ever u are!!!! - 119May 11th, 2009 4:53 am
So amazing!
I dream about taking such photo one day .
Shall I reprint these photos ?
Waiting for your answer… - 120May 31st, 2009 3:07 am
amazing…
i love the colors…
more power… - 121June 8th, 2009 6:09 am
impresionante, unas fotografias magnificas
- 122June 8th, 2009 11:07 pm
its amazing!!! i bought nikon d60 for taking professional photos but i dont know which lenses i must to use for macro photos . is 18-55mm lense enough for macros ?
- 123June 9th, 2009 10:12 pm
good job
- 124June 19th, 2009 9:55 pm
Stunning! Thanks to these camera geniuses.
- 125June 22nd, 2009 1:47 am
TRUELY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- 126June 26th, 2009 3:50 pm
Awesome bro. awesome!
- 127June 30th, 2009 6:56 am
Beautiful photos, however it is important to note that “macro” photography and “micro” photography are NOT the same. Also, how were these photos picked?
- 128July 7th, 2009 7:10 pm
so beautiful,nice shots.
- 129July 8th, 2009 3:35 am
Amazing you photos…
- 130July 23rd, 2009 5:44 pm
These photographs are truly splendid! I have done quite a lot of photography, and could not do any better myself.
- 131July 26th, 2009 12:41 am
refracted daisy and another vision ..mummed me..!!
Truely great photos. - 132October 4th, 2009 5:10 am
oh my god! these pictures are so cool!! insect covered in morning dew was awesome.
- 133October 5th, 2009 2:17 am
that is amazing
- 134October 7th, 2009 1:29 pm
These pics are the awsome like totally im in my tech class
- 135October 15th, 2009 10:45 am
Amazing macro pictures !!
- 136October 23rd, 2009 8:09 am
Hi
Amazing pics.
As an learner can someone tell me the best macro lense for a Nikon D200 Or Nikon 300- 137November 3rd, 2009 7:56 am
A Sikon 50mm Macro lens
- 137
- 138November 3rd, 2009 7:54 am
Excellent photographs of Macro (My favourite one was the cat and the frogs eye)
- 139November 21st, 2009 2:25 am
just like to say to the people that took those photos they are fantastic.
to se mother natures wonders and the time and effort you have taken to find these shots they are almost cosmic some of them.
i have a nikon d60 with macro and have 3 different types of dragon fly
and other various insects and i spend a lot of time walking the country side to get the pictures i want.
you can be proud of your work i can see that a lot of you are at one with nature - 140December 22nd, 2009 12:28 pm
Fake ! Lol superb fotos :)
- 141January 1st, 2010 7:22 am
Breathtaking shots… really.
- 142January 1st, 2010 1:02 pm
Awesome. Oh my God ! This is so beautiful.
- 143January 8th, 2010 4:05 pm
I m a macrophotograph and i can tell you…WOW!!!
- 144January 9th, 2010 8:27 am
******** ESPETACULAR ************
- 00
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Some stunning photos!
Don’t like spiders though, but the rest are beautifull!!!!