Nikon Small World 2011 Competition

Dr. Douglas Clark of San Francisco, California submitted this image of the dried wing scales of a butterfly (Cethosia biblis) in incandescent light. (Dr. Douglas Clark)



Crystal twinning patterns in a leucite crystal from volcanic rock, observed in polarized light by Dr. Michael M. Raith of the Steinmann Institut, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. (Dr. Michael M. Raith)


Pekka Honkakoski of Iisalmi, Finland captured this image of a rare column snowflake with thin, knifelike ice extensions, lit in part by red and blue lighting from opposite sides. (Pekka Honkakoski)


Jonathan Franks of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, used autofluorescence to observe this algae biofilm. (Jonathan Franks)

Every year, Nikon hosts the Small World Photomicrography Competition, inviting photographers and scientists to submit images of all things visible under a microscope. The winners for this year's competition have just been announced, with Dr. Igor Siwanowicz taking first prize for his image of a common green lacewing larva that had earlier landed on his hand, trying to take a bite (photo number 21 below). This year's entries cover a fascinating range of subjects and sizes, from the eyes of a freshwater shrimp to the delicate scales on the wing of a butterfly, from a simple yet complex frost crystal to neurospheres and cancer cells. Enjoy a trip into a miniature world through the images shared here with us by the fine folks at Nikon, all from the 2011 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/nikon-small-world-2011/100162/

And in some cases they are visualizations of data collected by instruments rather than directly capturing photons.

...simply for convenience. There are still lots of microscopes operating out there with film cameras attached, though. In my lab we've used Nikon digital cameras for the last seven or eight years, with nary a film body in sight. Certainly all the new rigs sold are digital.