For the past 39 years Nikon has hosted the Small World photomicrography contest. This allows anyone to combine passions for microscopy and photography to showcase the complexity and beauty of the microscopic world. They have just announced the winners for 2013.
This year’s photography winner is Wim van Egmond, a freelance photographer from the Micropolitan Museum in the Netherlands. Van Egmond photographed a marine diatom, Chaetoceros debilis, at 250x magnification using the techniques of image stacking and differential interference contrast. The result is a beautiful stained glass-like image of the diatom’s corkscrew structure.
The panel of judges consisted of Dr. Joan V. Ruderman, Alan Taylor, Cara Santa Maria, and Dr. Ronald Vale, with Michael Davidson as the judge's consultant.
Nikon celebrates a great deal of the contest applicants during the awards announcement. The top 20 images are highlighted, as well as 13 honorable mentions, and 83 images of distinction.
Applications for next year’s contest are now being accepted and have a deadline of April 20, 2014.
