Gallery: The Best MicroPhotography of 2011
Nikon announced the winners of its Small World microphotography contest and once again, the results are mesmerizing
![1 - igor s.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/PKYQPUHL4XX5F5JI7ACNQIX3HY.jpg?auto=webp)
![2 - donna stolz.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/7JELDIF42AMUS3G5KHD27O2SPQ.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Dr. Donna Stolz
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Blade of Grass (200X)
Confocal stack reconstruction, Autofluorescence
![3 - frank fox.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/7OAYQKQFNWUEVBDOAXQSWC2RKU.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Frank Fox
Fachhochschule Trier
Trier, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Melosira moniliformis, living specimen (320X)
Differential Interference Contrast
![4 - robin young.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/7QDE3CKZFLLCRAMVHGX5ELE2QU.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Dr. Robin Young
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Intrinsic fluorescence in Lepidozia reptans (liverwort) (20X)
Live mount, Confocal microscopy
![5 - alfred pasieka.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/RCDHFMQWBZFBMIMCT547TK5JFQ.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Alfred Pasieka
Germany
Microchip surface, 3D reconstruction (500X)
Incident light, Normarski Interference Contrast
![6 - dennis callahan.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/GSJTDCYVNHF4SFLR25KPZGD7FA.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Dennis Callahan
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California, USA
Cracked gallium arsenide solar cell films (50X)
Brightfield
![7 - gabriel luna.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/YJSHQ3OG4WXQCEPPWSNGY4R5P4.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Gabriel Luna
UC Santa Barbara, Neuroscience Research Institute
Santa Barbara, California, USA
Retinal flatmount of mouse nerve fiber layer (40X)
Laser Confocal Scanning
![8 - bernardo cesare.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/MARTAA2YP3QE3ED2LTXBE3INWQ.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Dr. Bernardo Cesare
Department of Geosciences
Padova, Italy
Graphite-bearing granulite from Kerala (India) (2.5X)
Polarized light
![9 - jan michels.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/5QU2KGRZEBDCVOSAS6JO6VJNKA.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Dr. Jan Michels
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Kiel, Germany
Temora longicornis (marine copepod), ventral view (10X)
Confocal, Autofluorescence and Congo Red Fluorescence
![10 - joan rohl.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/GAPSIYNOEUWSQGWGABXLIZ5TIA.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Joan Röhl
Institute for Biochemistry and Biology
Potsdam, Germany
Daphnia magna (freshwater water flea) (100X)
Differential Interference Contrast
![11- jan michels.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/BYZJ53IEV2BQDVQJV22TULZD2I.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Dr. Jan Michels
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Kiel, Germany
Ant head, frontal view (10X)
Confocal, autofluorescence
![12 - thomas deernick.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/JU4ENL77BDGU7RRW4NDGIBHYCA.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Thomas Deerinck
National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research
La Jolla, California, USA
HeLa (cancer) cells (300X)
2-Photon fluorescence
![13 - stephen nagy.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/4LUVL3TPFC3MJZSFU4NPINBO7U.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Dr. Stephen S. Nagy
Montana Diatoms
Helena, Montana, USA
Curare vine in cross-section, Chondrodendron tomentosum (45X)
Brightfield, digitally inverted
![14 - yanping wang.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/GRCECSVINXGUBSGPNGWGS74PRI.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Yanping Wang
Beijing Planetarium
Beijing, China
Sand (4X)
Reflected light
![15 - nicholson-entry_20216_firestorm.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/LIRRSTL5VM7WAHAI7C5Q4WG2AA.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: James H. Nicholson
Coral Culture and Collaborative Research Facility, NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCEHBR & HML
Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Porites lobata (lobe coral), live specimen displaying tissue pigmentation response with red fluorescence (12X)
Epifluorescence with triple band (U/B/G) excitation
![16th-dr-christopher-guerin-19908-1.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/JCSQFTWJZSKSLI5RV7PTS44NGA.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Dr. Christopher Guérin
VIB (Flanders Institute of Biotechnology)
Ghent, Belgium
Cultured cells growing on a bio-polymer scaffold (63X)
Confocal
![17 - witold kilarski.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/3BJ3NADX722WRCIELARNKSNKIE.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Dr. Witold Kilarski
EPFL-Laboratory of Lymphatic and Cancer Bioengineering
Lausanne, Switzerland
Litomosoides sigmodontis (filaria worms) inside lymphatic vessels of the mouse ear (150X)
Fluorescent confocal microscopy
![blonder-18th-entry_19169_aspen_deconvolution_scope_4x_objective_fitc_filter_clahe_contrast_ptmac_stitch.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/RECDNB5GFL2Y6EMSDMORY2YJRM.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Benjamin Blonder, David Elliott
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona, USA
Venation network of young Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen) leaf (4X)
Brightfield image of safranin-stained tissue
![19 - donna stolz.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/2CQNT6OQUHVEWIY6AZK6GRJGOU.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Dr. Donna Stolz
The University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Mammalian cell collage stained for various proteins and organelles, assembled into a wreath (200-2000X)
Single slice confocal cell mosaic
![20 -douglas-moore-19683-1.jpg](https://www.popphoto.com/uploads/2019/01/17/GYR25YWRJNYRGSGREFY55JNQTQ.jpg?auto=webp&optimize=high&width=100)
Photo: Douglas Moore
University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA
Agatized dinosaur bone cells, unpolished, ca. 150 million years old (42X)
Stereomicroscopy, fiber optics