Macro

Motion designer Harrison Vincent’s short film features eye-popping close-up imagery inspired by macrophotography, but was created entirely with computer graphics. The breakdown video is just as fascinating. He also provided the Cinema4D source files for download.

Waterballet creates incredible slow-motion macro videos using colored inks and water, along with ambient musical tracks to accompany the mesmerizing footage. The scenes look like weather fronts moving in on an alien landscape. More on Vimeo.

Warped Perception takes an up-close look at a highly critical, but underappreciated element of every rocket launch – the igniters which get the rocket fuel going. The result is some truly stunning slow-motion macro footage. Watch in 4K if you can.

Drew Geraci presents an eye-popping macrophotographic look at items like salt, pepper, fruits, and vegetables. He captured the 1000x magnifications using a microscope, a Sony A9 camera, and devised a tiny slider rig to smoothly move the microscope’s tray.

We’ve seen popcorn popped in slow-motion before, but that was “only” at 6,200 fps. Warped Perception captured the explosive force of heated popcorn kernels at 30,000 fps in front of the macro lens of their Phantom v2512 ultra high-speed camera.

BBC Earth show The Hunt captured crisp macro footage of hotrod ants, as they make their way through the scorching 150ºF+ Namib desert, where it’s so hot that they would die if they stopped in the sun for even a few seconds. But the extreme heat isn’t their only foe.

Artist GMUNK created this mesmerizing and relaxing video by capturing slow-mo macro footage of fluids and objects subject to vibrations, a reflection of nature’s “willful, conscious impulse” for change. The footage starting around 4:15 is especially noteworthy.

Macro Room’s latest video sees them submerging a variety of objects into a tank of water and then injecting ink, creating otherworldly images for split-seconds. The montage at the end is one of the sickest things we’ve ever seen.

Photographer ZALUSKArt captured these impressively detailed time-lapse macro shots of ice crystals forming along the surface of soap bubbles as they’re frozen. Since each crystal is unique, every bubble is a one-of-a-kind, yet temporary work of art. More here.

Timelapse Vision used a combination of macro and time-lapse photography to give us an up-close look at what our fingertips look like when they start to sweat. It’s easy to forget that we’re looking at a human finger and not some strange alien landscape.

You’ll want to put your headphones on and go full-screen to get the most out of Stereokroma’s hypnotic video, featuring super crisp macro photography of frozen fruits and veggies being thawed, accompanied by appropriate, if not exactly realistic ASMR sound effects.

Our new favorite timewasting YouTube channel Macro Room cut vegetables, shoes and other household objects in half, then kicked things up a notch with crispy close up shots and reverse time-lapses. Made with the help of the Adaptalux and Syrp Genie.

UK Talent Janet Waters created an extraordinary series of abstract photographs by taking macro shots of bubbles and foam with her macro lens. The result is intricate and ethereal. (Thanks Danna!)

This close-up video by Ahmet Özkan shows an ant being hog-tied by a spider. Not only is the photographic detail incredible, there’s an extra-special surprise if you stick around until the end.