Photographs Taken With a Microscope Explore the Beautiful and Bizarre Forms of Gemstones

Negative crystal in spinel

Photographer and gemologist Danny J. Sanchez uses a microscope to take fascinating, almost abstract photomicrographs of gemstones. Sanchez takes advantage of the microscope’s magnification to highlight the tiniest details in gemstones–minerals embedded within stones, formations that look like landforms or animals, and other curiosities. His photos often depict a field of view of just 3 or 4 millimeters. Depth of field is also extremly narrow in photomicrography. To overcome this limitation, Sanchez photographs each subject up to 120 times–minutely altering the focus depth for each shot–and digitally composites them in a technique known as focus stacking.

Rutile on hematite in quartz