Now celebrating its 40th year, Nikon Small World is widely regarded as the leading forum to recognize proficiency and photographic excellence of photography taken under the microscope. To select the winners, competition judges analyzed entries from all over the world covering subjects ranging from chemical compounds to up-close-and-personal looks at biological specimens. The 2014 winners will be revealed on October 30th. In 2014, the competition received over 1,200 entries from more than 79 countries around the world. (Photo by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World 2014)

A woman walks past a giant Pac-Man in Tokyo's Shinjuku area, Wednesday, August 12, 2015. The three-meter (about nine feet and 10 inches)-tall Pac-Man and other video game characters, made of Lego bricks, were on display to promote the upcoming movie “Pixels”. (Photo by Ken Aragaki/AP Photo)

Inside Gucci and Madonna's Oscars 2025 afterparty – guest portraits on March 02, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California. Pictured: American actress Olivia Wilde wearing Chloé. (Photo by JR)

Worker Malian Vue beats the heat inside the refrigerator at the Agricenter Farmers Market in Memphis, Tennessee on July 5, 2025. (Photo by Karen Focht/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A man reacts as he tries to extinguish a burning Christmas tree at Festival Walk mall in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, November 12, 2019. Anti-government protesters smashed windows and set fires in the mall on Tuesday, including to a big Christmas tree. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Rope access technicians carry out maintenance service on wind turbines including repairs, blade inspections and cleaning in Izmir, Turkey on February 19, 2021. In Turkey, where investments in renewable energy has increased, there are wind tribunes over 3,500. (Photo by Mahmut Serdar Alakus/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Filipino boys play basketball at an improvised court hooked on multi-layered tombs at a public cemetery in Navotas, north of Manila, Philippines on Thursday Oct. 31, 2013. Filipinos are expected to flock to cemeteries on November 1 to remember their dead as they observe All Saints Day in this predominantly Roman Catholic country. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

Bob Steele, of Jefferson, Texas, positions his bears during The Great Bear Show at the Dubuque (Iowa) County Fair on July 25, 2012. (Photo by Jessica Reilly/Telegraph Herald)