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)

In this undated photo provided by LittleFriendsPhoto.com via Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Kai, a 17-year-old male California sea lion at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Valejo, Calif. peers into the lens of photographer Seth Casteel, known for his “Underwater Dogs” photo series. ... (Photo by Seth Casteel/AP Photo/LittleFriendsPhoto.com via Six Flags Discovery Kingdom)

A golden pheasant and squirrels are seen in Lushan County of Pingdingshan City, central China's Henan Province, November 14, 2017. (Photo by Liu Xianguo/Xinhua/Barcroft Images)

A damselfly sits on a leaf at a garden in Nagaon district in the northeastern state of Assam, India, on October 3 , 2023. (Photo by Anuwar Hazarika/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

People exercise in Primrose Hill in London, Britain, 20 March 2025. The first day of spring in the UK astronomically occurs on the vernal equinox where earth's axis is not tilted towards or away from the sun, resulting in an equal amount of day and night on all latitudes. (Photo by Neil Hall/EPA/EFE)

Mario Barrios, left, fights Manny Pacquiao in a welterweight title boxing match Saturday, July 19, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Photo by John Locher/AP Photo)

Elise de Jong of Team Netherlands competes in the Women's Pole Vault during day two of the European Athletics U20 Championships 2025 on August 08, 2025 in Tampere, Finland. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images for European Athletics)

6th Place: Javier Rupérez, Almáchar, Málaga, Spain. Small white hair spider. Reflected Light, Image Stacking, 20x (Objective Lens Magnification). (Photo by Javier Rupérez/Nikon's Small World 2019)