- The art of photomicrography involves taking photos with extreme magnification.
- A panel of judges recognized 86 photographs in Nikon’s competition.
- Magnification levels ranged from 2.5x up to 100x.
The top photos from 2023 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition, which include everything from cells and needles to insect eyes are full of wonder. The photography of items under a microscopical microscope produces images with high magnification.
Watch the video to see the best of the 49th competition.
Rodent Optic Nerve head, First place
The intricate details of the rodent’s optic nerve are shown in this colorful picture. The red structures are proteins contractile, while the yellow are astrocytes.
Hassanain Qambari is the researcher who took this photo. He studies diabetic retinopathy. High blood sugar damages the blood vessels in the retina. One in three diabetics are affected by this condition.
Qambari stated that it was difficult to photograph vessels with a thickness near 110 microns. That’s about the size of a piece of regular 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 prize for her image of close-up cells of breast cancer. Image taken with 40x magnification.
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 jury.
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