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 year's winners, how could we say no?

Karl Deckart

Yousef Al Habshi

Dr. Haris Antonopoulos

Dr. Tessa Montague

Benjamin Barti

Nilay Taneja & Dr. Dylan Burnette

Rogelio Moreno

Pia Scanlon

Michael J. Bainbridge

Massimo Brizzi

Dr. Tagide deCarvalho

Dr. Emilio Carabajal Márquez

Charles B. Krebs

Dr. Ekin Tilic

Dr. Regis Grailhe, Nasia Antoniou, Dr. Rebecca Matsas

Aidan Fenix, Dr. Dylan Burnette

Wendell Jones, Dr. Steven Bassnett

Dr. Wim van Egmond

Anatoly Mikhaltsov

Gerd Günther

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.

If that sounds like artistry (and it should), you might be surprised to find that the majority of winners are actual scientists. They're just scientists who happen to know what makes a compelling image when their work leads them to it and know how to use the technology they have to make it happen.

Listing image by Massimo Brizzi