The globe is so much bigger than what our unaided eyes can see. We occasionally require a little assistance tuning into the details. It honors this with its Small World Photomicrography Competition. I’m going to start off by presenting one of the runners-up, an image of an ant, even though Nikon revealed the winners last week.
Eugenijus Kavaliauskas, a nature photographer with an exquisite portfolio you might lose yourself in for hours, took the image of the greatly magnified ant. The picture has received some attention on social media, possibly as a result of both its eerie quality and the approaching Halloween holiday. It appears to be something that emerged from a Middle-earth orc pit.
Visit the complete Nikon Small World winners gallery if the ant gets you. The winning photograph for 2022 was captured by Grigorii Timin of the University of Geneva and showed the embryonic hand of a Madagascar gecko. The breathtaking scene is 63 times larger. The bones, tendons, and skin of the gecko are visible, while the nerves glow cyan.
Hundreds of pictures make up the gecko foot. Timin used high-resolution microscopy and image-stitching to capture this species of Phelsuma Grandi’s day gecko, according to a statement from Nikon, “masterfully mixing imaging technology with creative talent.” It’s amazing.
We have a few more Small World highlights for you if you’re still feeling creepy. Here is a photo taken by Wim van Egmond of the Micropolitan Museum of a ghost-like anemone larva he discovered in maritime plankton. It’s very adorable in the realm of phantom-like beings. An honorable mention was given to the picture.
