The amazing images, which show the balls of water reflecting an array of colours and even other insects, were snapped by photographer Uda Dennie in his garden. One of the massive droplets even stayed in shape for about a minute before the spider scurried off. Dennie, 33, from Batam Island, Indonesia, said: “I was really surprised to get such amazing pictures – it was really wonderful. I have a real passion for macro photography and after lots of trial and error I'm now able to produce good images – perseverance really paid off”. (Photo by Uda Dennie)

In the spring of 1965, within weeks of 3,500 American Marines arriving in Vietnam, a 39-year-old Briton named Larry Burrows began work on a feature for LIFE magazine, chronicling the day-to-day experience of U.S. troops on the ground – and in the air – in the midst of the rapidly widening war. The photographs in this gallery focus on a calamitous March 31, 1965, helicopter mission; Burrows’ “report from Da Nang”, featuring his pictures and his personal account of the harrowing operation, was published two weeks later as a now-famous cover story in the April 16, 1965, issue of LIFE.

Photo: Man your battle stations: The crew chief of helicopter Yankee Papa 13, lance corporal James C. Farley, mans an M-60 machine gun during a mission near Da Nang, Vietnam on March 31, 1965. (Photo by Larry Burrows/Time & Life Pictures)