- The art of photomicrography involves taking photos with extreme magnification.
- The Nikon annual competition’s panel of judges has recognized 86 photos.
- Magnification levels ranged from 2.5x all the way up to 100x.
The top photos from the 2023 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition, which includes everything from cells to needle-points to insect eyes, are full of wonder. Photomicrography is a technique that involves taking photos of objects using a magnifying glass to create images with high magnification.
See the winners of the 49th annual competition.
First place: Rodent Optic Head
This colorful image shows the intricate parts of an optic nerve. The yellow structures represent astrocytes. The reds are proteins that contract and the greens represent retinal vessels.
Hassanain Qambari is a researcher who studies diabetic retinopathy. High blood sugar damages the blood vessels in the retina. Around one third of people with diabetes are affected.
Qambari reported that he had difficulty photographing vessels at a distance of 110 microns. This is about the same thickness as a standard sheet of printer paper. “While the ophthalmic artery in the rodent model presented a technically demanding challenge, we were able to overcome it with persistence and patience,” Qambari said.
Second Place: Matchstick Igniting
Ole Bielfeldt, the photographer behind this image, said on Instagram he had to build a special motion-control camera rig so the matchbox would move while the head of the match stayed still.
Breast Cancer Cells in Third Place
Malgorzata lisowska won third place with this photo of close-up cells of breast cancer. The image has been magnified 40x.
Fourth Place: Venomous Fangs Of A Small Tarantula
Fifth Place: Auto-fluorescing Defensive Hairs Covering The Leaf Surface Of Eleagnus Angustifolia Exposed To UV Light
Sixth Place: Slime Mold Showing Capillitial Fibers Through Its Translucent Peridium
Seventh Place: Mouse Embryo
Eighth Place: Caffeine Crystals
Ninth Place: Cytoskeleton Of A Dividing Myoblast
Tenth Place: Motor Neurons Grown In Microfluidic Device For Separation Of Cell Bodies And Axons
Click here to see the other images that were selected by the judges.
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