[Faline]

From basil leaves to red wine, these super-magnified images show everyday food and drink in compelling clarity.
Scientist Gary Greenberg, 67, magnifies samples up to 300 times their original size using a custom built 3D microscope.
Revealing the food and drink's unique make-up he uses his incredible photographs for both scientific and artistic investigations of nature.

Hidden colours: Scientist Gary Greenberg magnified this sample of Zinfandel rose wine 300 times using a custom built 3D microscope:


Mr Greenberg, from Maui, Hawaii, said: 'The microscope is a powerful tool for the exploration of both science and art. I never get tired of looking at things through the microscope. Every time I see a new sample, it is a wonderful surprise.

'The secrets of nature are hidden, yet they are everywhere if you look closely. The microscope is one of the most dramatic ways of revealing the secrets of nature. I get a huge amount of enjoyment from discovering new things.
'I think my image of a tiny seed emerging from the centre of a cucumber is one of my favourite photographs. It's so unexpected, and delicate, and full of life and motion.'
Mr Greenberg, who invented and built his custom-made 3D microscopes, has been producing his high-definition images for the past 21 years.

Rosemary magnified 125 times. Mr Greenberg's images reveals the unique make-up of everyday food and drinks:


A dragon fruit magnified by 125 times:


A strawberry magnified by 125 times:


'There are many factors go into making a compelling photograph through the microscope,' he said. 'The quality of the lens, the lighting, the camera, and the type of microscope all make a big difference.
'Microscopic photographs of three-dimensional objects are difficult to produce because light microscopes have very shallow depth of focus.
'In other words, the camera can only see a thin section of the object in-focus, with the foreground and background being out-of-focus.
'I overcome this limitation by photographing a series of images taken at different focus levels. To produce a fully-focused image, a computer program analyses each image in the series, selecting the in-focus portions, and discarding the out-of-focus portions of each image in the series.
'All of the in-focus portions are then seamlessly combined into a single image that is sharply focused from foreground to background.
'The result of all this technology is a dramatic, more three-dimensional representation of the object.'

Sugar as it looks after being magnified by 125 times. As well as photographing everyday items, Mr Greenberg receives samples and specimens from all over the world:


What appears to be a dew-covered landscape with roads is actually a basil leaf magnified 125 times:


Mr Greenberg carries out his artistic work at his home lab and his scientific work at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy in Maui.
Receiving samples and specimens from researchers all over the world, he has recently been approached by Nasa to examine moon sand collected during an Apollo mission.
'I generally have specific projects that determine what samples I investigate,' Mr Greenberg said.
'For example, I recently received a grant from Nasa to study moon sand that was collected during the Apollo missions 40 years ago.
'Over the previous two years, I have focused my microscope on flowers and food. Often, samples are sent to me from researchers from around the world who are interested in seeing what their samples look like under my special 3D microscopes.
'As a result, I have photographed a wide range of different specimens, from nerve cells to microelectronics.'
For Mr Greenberg, however, it is the reaction of the general public to his photographs that still excites him.
'One of the things I really enjoy is to hear people's reaction when they see ordinary things like food or sand through the microscope, he said. 'They often tell me they never look at things the same way again.'

[Faline]

Similar but sand

http://www.documentingreality.com/fo...ms-sand-82917/

[Viking64]

Kerfookin Kool, Kel!!!

[Zodiak]

It'd be cool to see the other images he's done on various objects.

[corrico]

i always thought close up pictures of marijuana were really cool like these.

[kellyhound]