Nikon Small World 2019: The Best Microscope Photos Of The Year

Nikon has announced the winners of the 2019 Small World Photomicrography Competition, and has once more shared some of the winning and honored images with us. The contest invites photographers and scientists to submit images of all things visible under a microscope. This year, first place was awarded to Teresa Zgoda and Teresa Kugler for their painstakingly prepared photo of a turtle embryo, using fluorescence and stereo microscopy. More than 2,000 entries were received from 100 countries in 2019, the 45th year of the competition.

1st Place: Teresa Zgoda & Teresa Kugler, Campbell Hall, New York, USA. Fluorescent turtle embryo. Stereomicroscopy, Fluorescence, 5x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Teresa Zgoda/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

More: Small World Photomicrography Competition

2nd Place: 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). (Photo by Igor Siwanowicz/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

3rd Place: 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). (Photo by Daniel Smith Paredes/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

4th Place: Jan Rosenboom, Universität Rostock, Rostock, Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Germany. Male mosquito. Focus Stacking, 6.3x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Jan Rosenboom/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

5th Place: Caleb Foster, Caleb Foster Photography, Jericho, Vermont, USA. Snowflake. Transmitted Light, 4x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Caleb Foster/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

6th Place: Javier Rupérez, Almáchar, Málaga, Spain. Small white hair spider. Reflected Light, Image Stacking, 20x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Javier Rupérez/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

7th Place: Dr. Guillermo López, Alicante, Spain. Chinese red carnation stamen. Focus Stacking, 3x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Guillermo López/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

8th Place: Garzon Christian, Quintin, Cotes-d’Armor, France. Frozen water droplet. Incident Light, 8x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Garzon Christian/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

9th Place: Andrei Savitsky, Cherkassy, Ukraine. Tulip bud cross section. Reflected Light, 1x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Andrei Savitsky/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

10th Place: Jason 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). (Photo by Jason M. Kirk/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

11th Place: Dr. 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). (Photo by Yujun Chen/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

12th Place: Anne Algar, Hounslow, Middlesex, United Kingdom. Mosquito larva. Darkfield, Polarizing Light, Image Stacking, 4x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Anne Algar/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

13th Place: Dr. Emilio Carabajal Márquez, Madrid, Spain. Cuprite (mineral composed of copper oxide). Focus Stacking, 20x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Emilio Carabajal Márquez/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

14th Place: Antoine Franck, CIRAD – Agricultural Research for Development, Saint Pierre, Réunion. Female Oxyopes dumonti (lynx) spider. Focus Stacking, 1x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Antoine Franck/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

15th Place: Marek Miś, Marek Miś Photography, Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland. Pregnant Daphnia magna (small planktonic crustacean). Modified Darkfield, Polarized Light, Image Stacking, 4x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Marek Miś/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

16th Place: Dr. Razvan Cornel Constantin, Bucharest, Romania. Housefly compound eye pattern. Focus Stacking, Reflected Light, 50x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Razvan Cornel Constantin/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

17th Place: Karl Deckart, Eckental, Bavaria, Germany. Vitamin C. Brightfield, Polarized Light, 4x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Karl Deckart/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

18th Place: E. Billie Hughes, Lotus Gemology, Bangkok, Thailand. Cristobalite crystal suspended in its quartz mineral host. Darkfield, 40x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by E. Billie Hughes/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

19th Place: 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). (Photo by Martyna Lukoseviciute/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

20th Place: 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). (Photo by Simon Merz/Nikon’s Small World 2019)

If you want more awesome content, subscribe to Design You Trust Facebook page.

More Inspiring Stories

Beautiful Nature Winners from the 2024 European Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards

Spectacular Winning Images of The Nature Conservancy Photo Contest 2021

Japanese Photographer Captures Breathtaking Images Of Gifu Castle Against Reiwa Era’s First Cold Moon

Photographer Nei Valente Creates An Urban Photo Series Of The NYC Newsstands

Artist Jung Lee Constructed A Series Of Neon Light Sculptures That Were Installed Against Cinematic Landscapes

Meet The Photographer Showing You What It’s Like To Be Young In Modern-Day Russia

Photographer Ryosuke Kosuge Capures The Kengo Kuma-Designed Bookshelf Theater In The Kadokawa Culture Museum

This Artist Turns Real Photos Into Beautiful One-Line Minimalist Drawings

Photographer Anna Radchenko Explores A Reverse Side Of A Mother’s Love

Stunning Winning Photos from the 2025 Underwater Photographer of the Year

Before She Was Famous, Marilyn Monroe Was Paid Just $10 an Hour to Pose for Pin-up Artist Earl Moran in the Late 1940s

Japanese Photographer Atsushi Morioka Releases the World's First Photo Book Focusing on Fish Faces

Beautiful Winning Images of the 2022 Nature Conservancy Photo Contest

Texas Tech University’s Yearbook Featured Their Female Students As Playmates For 20 Years

Superb Macro Photos From Garden Photographer Of The Year Awards

Winners Of The Street Photography Contest 2022 By The Independent Photographer

Jan Erik Waider’ Photos Capture The Dark Beauty Of Greenland Icebergs And Northern Landscapes

"Impressions Of The Roaring Twenties": 40 Found Snaps That Show Lifestyle Of Young People In The 1920s

"Nude" Photos of Pastel-Colored Urban Tokyo by Rumi Ando

Amazing Finalists for The 2023 Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Image Contest

Hong Kong’s 70s and 80s Nostalgic in Keith Macgregor's Photographs

Spectacular Winning Images Of The Ocean Photography Awards 2023

Life Before World War II: Fascinating Color Photographs Capture Everyday Life in Budapest, Hungary in 1939

Amazing Works Of Joshua Hibbert

Beautiful Black And White Photos Of Kim Basinger In 1977

Lovely Rainy Day Photos That Look Like Oil Paintings

Rare Photographs Of The Beatles On Holiday On Tenerife Island Before They Became World Famous

The Last Days on Californian Beaches Before Covid-19 in Melancholic Photographs by Marina Weishaupt

Mila Kunis is New Face of Christian Dior Spring/Summer 2012

Neringa Rekasiute's "We. Women" Photo Project Places Women In the Throes Of A Major Fear — And Is An Ode To Raw Self-Love