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)

Hideki Tokoro, president of whaling company Kyodo Senpaku, boards Japan's new whaling mothership, the Kangei Maru, following the ship's launch ceremony at a port in Shimonoseki city, Yamaguchi prefecture on May 21, 2024. The nearly 9,300-tonne ship set sail on its maiden hunting voyage on May 21, heralding a new era for the controversial practice defended by the government as an integral part of national culture. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)

Blule is the brand of French illustrator/designer, Clementine, who currently resides in Australia and has worked as an industrial designer for companies such as Fila, and L’Oreal among others. She starts every image with a pencil sketch on handmade Indian watercolor paper sheet and uses high quality French watercolor paint to achieve the desired effect.

An alligator is skinned at All American Gator August 16, 2006 in Pembroke Park, Florida. The company processes gators for their skins, meat and trophies and was at full capacity a day after the start of gator hunting season. This year more than 4,000 licenses were sold with each license allowing hunters to kill two gators. The hunt has been expanded by 41 days over previous years, running August 15 to November 1. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Workers at the World's Finest Chocolate company weigh what they hope will be a world record chocolate bar September 13, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The candy bar, weighing 12,190 pounds, standing nearly 3 feet high and measuring 21 feet long beat the previous record chocolate bar by more than a ton. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

U.S. Marine Lt. Ben Reid from 1/2 Charlie Company of Task Force Tarawa waits to be medivaced after being hit with shrapnel and a machine gun round, in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, on March 23, 2003. The Marines suffered a number of deaths and casualties during gun battles throughout the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle via The Atlantic)

Female pilot Anna climbs out the cockpit of Japanese electronics company Suidobashi Heavy Industry's newly unveiled robot “Kuratas” at the Wonder Festival in Chiba, suburban Tokyo on July 29, 2012. The “Kuratas” robot, which will go on sale with a price tag of one million USD, measures four meters in height, weighs four tons and has four wheeled legs that can either be controlled remotely through the 3G network or by a human seated within the cockpit. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

A christmas teddy bear is wheeled along on a trolley at the Steiff stuffed toy factory on November 23, 2012 in Giengen an der Brenz, Germany. Founded by seamstress Margarethe Steiff in 1880, Steiff has been making stuffed teddy bears since the early 20th century ever since her nephew Richard Steiff exhibited the first commercially produced teddy bear in Europe in 1903. Teddy bears are among the most popular children's toys and the company is hoping for a strong Christmas season. (Photo by Thomas Niedermueller)