Each year, Nikon runs a microscopy competition honoring the best images of all things small. And, well, we’re kind of suckers for it here at Ars. So when the company got in touch and offered us the chance to share a peek at this years’ winners, how could we say no?

Karl Deckart

While most of you may know Nikon as a camera company, microscopy is a sibling of photography in many ways beyond the involvement of high-end lenses. While it might not matter for scientific purposes, a compelling microscope image depends on things like composition, lighting, exposure, and more. And these days, both fields rely heavily on post-processing. Many of the images you see above are the product of multiple exposures, each on a different focal plane, all stacked and flattened to provide a full three-dimensional view that’s actually not possible from a microscope alone.