Most people know Nikon as a purveyor of pro and consumer-grade digital cameras. But the company's expertise with optics bleeds over into related markets – it's one of the science community's major suppliers of microscopes. And each year the company asks the community to send it some of their favorite images of tiny objects. A panel of scientists and journalists have chosen the best of this past year's submissions, which Nikon has placed on its Small World site.

Photo: Honorable Mention. “Snow crystal, illuminated with colored lights (5x)”. (Photo by Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Department of Physics, Pasadena, California, USA)

A masked protester talks to a soldier during clashes after the funeral of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan October 21, 2012. Lebanese soldiers fired guns and tear gas to push back hundreds of protesters who broke through a police cordon and tried to storm the government headquarters in Beirut. (Photo by Hussein Malla/Associated Press)

Mr. Olympia Phil Heath poses during a media call ahead of the 2012 IFBB Australian Pro Grand Prix XIII on March 16, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Gothic enthusiast poses during the annual Wave-Gotik-Treffen music festival on May 26, 2012 in Leipzig, Germany. The event began in the 1990s and has since grown into one of the biggest gatherings of Goth scene followers in Europe with around 20,000 participants. (Photo by Adam Berry)

Bradley Hemmings and Jenny Sealey MBE pose for the camera with a Giant Iron Man on the set of Iron Man at the Greenwich and Docklands Festival in St Alfege Park on June 24, 2011 in London, England after they are announced by LOCOG as the Artistic Directors for the Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)

A model walks the runway during the Jean Paul Gaultier Ready to Wear Spring / Summer 2012 show during Paris Fashion Week on October 1, 2011 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Models showcase designs on the catwalk during the SCFASHION Qi Gang Spring/Summer 2012 show on the Fourth day of China Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2012 at the Banquet Hall, Beijing Hotel on October 27, 2011 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

A model walks down the runway during the Safilo fashion show at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Pavilion on January 30, 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)