The Joys of Microscope Photography

"Wretched beasties moving about very nimbly"

This is what Anton van Leeuwenhoek said about the creatures he saw in his 1670s microscope. The "Father of Microbiology" made over 400 different types of microscopes and discovered bacteria and spermatozoa, among other things.... among many, many other things. All these "beasties" live in enchanting world and can sometimes look very cute (witness waterbears) - and photographers keep discovering new angles and frontiers of their microcosm.

For a number of years Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition revealed to the world the intricate and highly-sophisticated wonders of the micro-world... With the exclusive permission of Olympus BioScapes, here are a few entries that particularly caught our attention:

The "Fairy Fly" wasp (left) and some iridescent part of the aptly-named "Jewel Beetle".

Left: Live Daphnia... and the portrait of a fly (with a swanky hairdo)







Larva of Brachiolaria looks like a wannabe squid








Peeking inside the wild cucumber (Echinocystis lobata) -








The eye of the honeybee (left). And the flatworm on the right seems to have a face. Pretty morose kind of face







Best Microscope Photos, according to Nikon Small World and National Geographic

Sponsored by Nikon, the annual Small World Contest showcases "the beauty and complexity of life as seen through the light microscope." See all the winners and honorable mentions here, and also presentation on National Geographic.


Nanotube Factory:
"Nanotubes are elongated, hollow cylinders of carbon atoms, just 1/50,000 the width of a human hair... Sometimes, the heated mass of nanotubes grows like a bulb in the spring."
Drug Landscape:
The antibiotic powder mitomycin - "viewed through polarizing filters, the drug gave off colors that reveal its complex crystal structure."

A Chick Embryo