In an ongoing series of incredible macro composites, photographer Chris Perani captures butterfly wings in exquisite detail that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

To achieve these amazing close-ups, Perani uses a 10x microscope objective attached to a 200mm lens. In an interview with Colossal he explains:

 

“The lens must be moved no more than 3 microns per photo to achieve focus across the thickness of the subject which can be up to 8 millimeters. This yields 350 exposures, each with a sliver in focus, that must be composited together. In total this accounts for 2,100 separate exposures combined into a single image.”

 

You can find a gallery of 57 macro shots on Perani’s website where individual prints can also be purchased.

[via Colossal]