Nikon Small World photomicrography competition always amazes us with its fantastic entries. The 2019 edition is no exception. This year’s contest winners have been announced, and they show us just how beautiful and incredible even the tiniest subjects can be.
This is the forty-fifth annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Contest. This year’s first place was awarded to microscopy technician Teresa Zgoda and recent university graduate Teresa Kugler for their stunning photo of a turtle embryo. It was captured using fluorescence and stereo microscopy, and the final image is a masterful example of image-stitching.
#1 Teresa Zgoda & Teresa Kugler
Campbell Hall, New York, USA
Fluorescent turtle embryo
Stereomicroscopy, Fluorescence
5x (Objective Lens Magnification)
“Our goal has always been to show the world how art and science intersect,” said Eric Flem, Communications Manager at Nikon Instruments. “As new imaging and microscopy techniques develop over the years, our winners showcase these technology advances more and more creatively. First place this year is no exception.”
Second place was awarded to Nikon Small World veteran Dr. Igor Siwanowicz for his composite image of three single-cell freshwater protozoans, sometimes called “trumpet animalcules.” He used confocal microscopy to capture the detail of the cilia, tiny hairs used by the animals for feeding and locomotion.
#2 Dr. Igor Siwanowicz
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
Janelia Research Campus
Ashburn, Virginia, USA
Depth-color coded projections of three stentors (single-cell freshwater protozoans)
Confocal
40x (Objective Lens Magnification)
In the third place is Mr. Daniel Smith Paredes, who placed for his image of a developing American alligator embryo. He snapped this photo at around 20 days of development using immunofluorescence and is studying the development and evolution of vertebrate anatomy.
#3 Daniel Smith Paredes & Dr. Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar
Yale University
Department of Geology and Geophysics
New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Alligator embryo developing nerves and skeleton
Immunofluorescence
10x (Objective Lens Magnification)
This year’s contest received over 2,000 entries from almost 100 countries. Nikon Small World recognized 86 photos out of them, and we bring you the top 20. You saw the first three, and check out the remaining 17 below. Make sure to visit Nikon Small World’s website for honorable mentions and more images from this year’s contest. And if you just can’t get enough, here are links to the winner selections from previous years.
#4 Jan Rosenboom
Universität Rostock
Rostock, Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Germany
Male mosquito
Focus Stacking
6.3x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#5 Caleb Foster
Caleb Foster Photography
Jericho, Vermont, USA
Snowflake
Transmitted Light
4x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#6 Javier Rupérez
Almáchar, Málaga, Spain
Small white hair spider
Reflected Light, Image Stacking
20x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#7Dr. Guillermo López López
Alicante, Spain
Chinese red carnation stamen
Focus Stacking
3x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#8 Garzon Christian
Quintin, Cotes-d’Armor, France
Frozen water droplet
Incident Light
8x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#9 Andrei Savitsky
Cherkassy, Ukraine
Tulip bud cross section
Reflected Light
1x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#10Jason M. Kirk
Baylor College of Medicine
Optical Imaging & Vital Microscopy Core
Houston, Texas, USA
BPAE cells in telophase stage of mitosis
Confocal with Enhanced Resolution
63x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#11Dr. Yujun Chen & Dr. Jocelyn McDonald
Kansas State University
Department of Biology
Manhattan, Kansas, USA
A pair of ovaries from an adult Drosophila female stained for F-actin (yellow) and nuclei (green); follicle cells are marked by GFP (magenta)
Confocal
10x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#12 Anne Algar
Hounslow, Middlesex, United Kingdom
Mosquito larva
Darkfield, Polarizing Light, Image Stacking
4x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#13 Dr. Emilio Carabajal Márquez
Madrid, Spain
Cuprite (mineral composed of copper oxide)
Focus Stacking
20x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#14 Antoine Franck
CIRAD – Agricultural Research for Development
Saint Pierre, Réunion
Female Oxyopes dumonti (lynx) spider
Focus Stacking
1x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#15 Marek Miś
Marek Miś Photography
Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland
Pregnant Daphnia magna (small planktonic crustacean)
Modified Darkfield, Polarized Light, Image Stacking
4x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#16 Dr. Razvan Cornel Constantin
Bucharest, Romania
Housefly compound eye pattern
Focus Stacking, Reflected Light
50x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#17 Karl Deckart
Eckental, Bavaria, Germany
Vitamin C
Brightfield, Polarized Light
4x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#18E. Billie Hughes
Lotus Gemology
Bangkok, Thailand
Cristobalite crystal suspended in its quartz mineral host
Darkfield
40x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#19 Martyna Lukoseviciute & Dr. Carrie Albertin
University of Oxford
Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine
Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Octopus bimaculoides embryo
Confocal, Image Stitching
5x (Objective Lens Magnification)
#20 Simon Merz, Lea Bornemann & Sebastian Korste
University Hospital Essen
Institute for Experimental Immunology & Imaging
Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Blood vessels of a murine (mouse) heart following myocardial infarction (heart attack)
Tissue Clearing, Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy
2x (Objective Lens Magnification)
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