Extreme macro photographs of red pepper flakes

Ever wonder what things look like up close.  I often see things like spices and wonder what they look like when magnified to an incredible size.  Today I used my Canon 5D Mark II and my Canon MP-E 65mm 2.8 1x-5x lens to take some 1x, 3x and 5x shots of red pepper flakes.  At 3x and 5x the flakes begin to look like beef jerky.

This is a 1x magnification of red pepper flakes.

1x view of red pepper flakes

3x view of red pepper flakes

5x view of red pepper flakes