When done correctly, macro photography is one of those art forms that can simply take your breath away. Often super high focus, these mind-blowing macro shots give us a new perspective on the otherwise familiar.

Macro images place new demands on the photographer, but these 15 incredible photos will give you all the inspiration you need to get learning, or to improve your macro photography technique.

Familiar but alien

The three macro photos in this section are all familiar shapes and patterns, but not ones that you might immediately connect with the creature or organism they belong to. This can create an eerie sense of discovering something as new that’s always been right in front of you.

Fibonacci shell

Mushrooms

Butterfly

A new vantage point

The fresh perspective offered by macro photography is really captured in these images. By getting extremely close to the subject, the photographer in each of these shots manages to surprise the viewer with an unexpected angle.

Corn on the cob

Human eye

Flamingo feathers

Caught in the moment

These three images use their close-up perspectives to catch a split second moment and tell a story. The bee, the water droplet, and the tarantula are all poised in some way, and these snapshots give us a better view of the action than we could get in real life.

Bee sting

Water droplet

Tarantula

Up close and personal

A series of macro classics here: stock portrait photosof small creatures. From reinventing our day-to-day interaction with the fly, to introducing us to a closer view of a common animal, the horse, these intimate images capture personalities and present them in stunning detail.

Photography of a fly

Spider

Horse eye

Beautiful bonus

From stories to surprises, sometimes macro photos are just blow-you-away beautiful. These three stock photos are great examples of what can happen when a macro photographer also has an eye for color and framing.

Pink flower

Dandelion

Lizard eye

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Author Bio

Luke Clum is a designer and photographer based in Seattle. He loves working with minimalist photography and enjoys discussing all things typography. Follow him on twitter @lukeclum