This is a stacked image of a freshly emerged (teneral) damselfly that had yet to develop any color. I encountered it in the spring of 2024 and it was one of the cleanest damselflies I had ever photographed. LIKE A parade of alien life forms, these everyday bugs have been transformed thanks to skilled mug shot-style portrait photography. From a damselfly to a ladybird and our beloved bumblebee, up close, these humble creatures that could be found in anyone's home or garden look larger than life thanks to a special process that takes up to three hours per shot. If you found these critters skittering around your backyard, you might not give them a second look, but thanks to these beautifully captured portraits, you will notice them in a new light. These exciting images were captured by Benjamin Salb, an IT security manager and a photographer from Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA. “My goal with these types of images is to zoom in and garner appreciation for the unseen details of our tiny animals,” he told mediadrumworld.com. “I specialise in tightly framed shots that display as much minute detail as possible on living subjects. “I use a photography method called focus stacking, which allows me to cram a lot of detail into a single image. “In focus stacking, a series of photos are taken and then combined in post-processing to increase the depth of field, which is often needed when shooting at high magnification. “So even though an image may look like a single picture, it may actually be created from dozens or even hundreds of pictures stacked together. “I took these pictures using an OM-1 MKII camera paired with an M.Zuiko Digital ED 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO. “I use a Godox V860III for its built-in modelling light, quick recycling time, and a flash diffuser by AK Diffuser to snap these images. “For post-processing, I use software called Helicon Focus to combine all of the images, which takes me about two to three hours per image. “It’s a labour of love.” ENDs