Small World: Nikon's Stunning Light Microscope Photography Contest
I have always been fascinated by inner space, that is to say the very, very small. I remember as a child wondering what the world would look like if I could shrink down to the size of a dust mite.
For instance would I be able to perceive an entire human face all at once if I was that small? Would a large room or hall seem like a galaxy to me? These and many more questions buzzed around my head, sometimes for weeks at a time.
Later on in life when I got into photography, I desperately wanted someone to invent a Brownian Motion camera. One that was so small that individual molecules of air could push it around . . .
Anyway I digress, Nikon have just announced the winner of their Small World 2018 Photomicrography Competition. The contest is open to anyone who has taken a picture through a light microscope, be they a scientist, pro photographer or amateur enthusiast.
I've placed some of my favourite images below for you to enjoy, along with image links, and a link at the bottom of the post to the 109 images on the official site.
Enjoy!
Top 20 Personal Favourites
Pia Scanlon
Portrait of Sternochetus mangiferae (mango seed weevil) (1 x magnification) 8th place
Caleb Dawson - Australia
(Milky Way) Breast tissue in lactation: Milk filled spheres (red) surrounded by tiny muscle cells that squeeze out milk (yellow) and immune cells that monitor for infection (blue) (63 x magnification) 17th place
Pierre Anquet - France
Vespa velutina (Asian hornet) with venom on its stinger (6.3 x magnification) 19th place
Dr. Amanda D. Phillips Yzaguirre - Salk Institute USA
Mouse oviduct vasculature (10 x magnification) 16th place
Andrew Moore
Dr. Erika Holzbaur - University of Pennsylvania - USA
African green monkey cell (COS-7) stained for actin and microtubules (100 x magnification) 14th place
Norm Barker
Human tear drop (5x magnification) 7th place
Honorable Mentions Personal Favourites
Anne Algar
Daphnia (water flea) with eggs (10x magnification)
Tracy Debenport
Penicillium vulpinum (mould) (2x magnification)
Teresa Zgoda
Chameleon embryo (5x magnification)
Walter A. Piorkowski
Bubbles and single cloth fibre (red) on a rock surface (10x magnification)
Images Of Distinction Personal Favourites
Arturo Agostino
Freshwater Snail Eggs (6.3x magnification)
Jianqun Gao
Human skin cells reprogrammed and differentiated into neurons showing nuclei (blue) and inter-neuronal network (green and red) (20x magnification)
Dr. Stephen Freeman
Dr. Laurence Delacroix - University of Liège - Belgium
Inner ear neurons of a mouse(10x magnification)
James Dorey
Male wasp from Fiji (4x magnification)
Past Entries Personal Favourites
Teresa Zgoda
Taenia solium (tapeworm) everted scolex (200x magnification) 2017 - 4th place
Walter A. Piorkowski
Moth eggs in spider silk (16x magnification) 2017
Nikon Micrography 2018 Winner
Yousef Al Habshi
Eye of a Metapocyrtus subquadrulifer beetle (20x magnification)
Image links
Top 20 Links
Asian Hornet
Hon. Mentions Links
Water Flea With Eggs
Distinction Links
Snail Eggs
Human Skin Cells (reprogrammed)
Past Entry Links
Winning Entry Link
Competition Links
Nikon Small World 2018 Micrography Competition - Summary
THESE FASCINATING IMAGES REPRESENT A SMALL PORTION OF THIS AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHY DISCIPLINE, I URGE YOU TO TAKE SOME TIME TO LOOK AT THE SITE AND CHECK OUT SOME TRULY BREATHTAKING PHOTOGRAPHY.
WHICH ONES WERE YOUR FAVOURITES? WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN CLOSE DETAIL? AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!