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)

“Nomascus is the second most speciose genus of gibbons (family Hylobatidae). Originally this genus was a subgenus of Hylobates, and all individuals were considered one species, Hylobates concolor. Species within Nomascus are characterized by 52 chromosomes. Some species are all black, some light with a distinct black tuft of crown fur, and some by distinct, light-colored cheek patches. Nomascus is found from southern China (Yunnan) to southern Vietnam, and also on Hainan Island. One of the genus' species, Nomascus nasutus, has been deemed “the most critically endangered ape species in the world”. All of the species in this genus are endangered or critically endangered”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A newborn White-Cheeked Gibbon clings to its mother in the Nanning Zoo on April 12, 2004 in Nanning, Guangxi province, China. The White-Cheeked Gibbon's natural habitat is Southern China as well as Vietnam and Laos. They are classified as highly endangered and are on the brink of extinction due to poaching and reduction of natural rainforests. (Photo by Getty Images)

A cat jumps from a shelf to catch a light beam at the “Kis-Kis” Cat Cafe in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, July 6, 2015. A local animals rights group founded the shelter for dozen of homeless cats and combined it with the cafe, where visitors can communicate with animals for hourly fee in addition to drinks, table games, books and WI-FI. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Woolland Woods, Dorset. Landscape photographer of the year 2020. “Taken in spring of 2018 in a wooded area close to Milborne St Andrew in Dorset, this was the third visit to the area in a matter of days. On the previous days, both devoid of morning mists, the light had been harsh and unappealing but the third day delivered stunning conditions with mist swirling through the trees. The low shooting position allowed more emphasis to be placed on the wild garlic and pathway”. (Photo by Chris Frost/UK Landscape Photographer of the Year 2020)

Breath of an Arctic fox by Marco Gaiotti, Italy. Marco was watching this little Arctic fox as it incessantly called another nearby. Gradually he noticed the fox’s wet breath was quickly freezing in the air after each call. It was late winter in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, and the air was -35C (-31F). Photographing Arctic foxes is often frustrating, as they are normally running around fast in search of food, but this one was very relaxed and let Marco get close enough to focus on it, with the light glowing perfectly in the background. (Photo by Marco Gaiotti/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021)

For his Behind a Little House Project Italian photographer Manuel Cosentino found an unsuspecting muse: a tiny nondescript house on an unexceptional hill. He returned to photograph the small building from the exact same location for nearly two years in order to capture the dramatic changes in weather and light that utterly changed the scenery just beyond the horizon

Brian Anderson has been taking images of Glasgow for 20 years, spotlighting both the light and dark side of life. Brian, 40, said: “Glasgow is full of character. It’s a nice city, it’s a crazy city and I want to show all that”. Photo: Police look on as a man tries to break up brawling women in Queen Street. (Photo by Brian Anderson)

Jack Tia Kee Woon is an artist from Singapore. He is famous through his technique of watercolor painting in acrylic environment. His painting style is very light and radiant, where the watercolors add the transparence to the picture, while acrylic make the colors look very deep. One can see the influence of Chinese and Japanese culture on his art.