A pedestrian carries an umbrella as they stroll past an advertisment as a rainstorm moves through Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, February 13, 2019. Rain is falling widely in Northern California and is expected to spread south. (Photo by Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo)

In this Wednesday, April 3, 2019, photo, children play in the water on a beach as a mosque collapsed during the Sept. 28, 2018, earthquake is seen in the background in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The earthquake spawned a large localized tsunami that wiped out coastal areas, while liquefaction caused by the shaking turned entire neighborhoods into rivers of sludge. The disaster killed thousands of people, making it the world’s deadliest seismic event in 2018. (Photo by Tatan Syuflana/AP Photo)

Kazakh girls watch as the Russian Soyuz TMA-15 rocket carrying Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Frank De Winne of Belgium and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko readies for take-off from the Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan on May 27, 2009. Three astronauts, from Canada, Belgium and Russia, blasted off for the International Space Station in a landmark mission that will double its crew to six for the first time. (Photo by Dmitry Kostyukov/AFP Photo)

Artist German Vinogradov acts in the performance of the burning of installation, devoted to Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, a pagan holiday marking the end of winter, in the village of Nikola-Lenivets, Kaluga region, Russia, February 17, 2018. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Residents walk past electoral posters in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 28, 2017. (Photo by Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters)

Nefertara, a supporter of pop star Britney Spears, wears an outfit inspired by the singer as she holds a picture of Britney that she painted, during a gathering on the day of a conservatorship case hearing at Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 29, 2021. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

The Macy's inflation team works on giant balloons as they prepare ahead of the 96th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, United States on November 23, 2022. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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)