Every time Nikon’s Small World competition comes around, it amazes us. Every single time. This year’s entrants are some of the most impressive we’ve seen, though. The winners won’t be announced until next week, but in the meantime, here’s a sneak peak at this year’s photos.
Ants
Photographer: Geir Drange
These ants look totally like hyper-realistic CGI. Too-detailed-to-be-real is a recurring theme with these photos, but man, I did not know (or want to know) that’s what ants look like up close.
Fruit Fly Retina
Photographer: Dr. W. Ryan Williamson
I would have guessed an explosion at a chemical factory or some kind of bioluminescent fungi. But a fruit fly’s retina?! That’s just an absurd thing to even think about trying to photograph, let alone make beautiful.
House Spider
Photographer: Harold Taylor
And then there’s this one. GAH. Holy good god, that’s terrifying enough to be concept art for a horror game.
These are only three of many, many entrants, and again, the winners won’t be out until next week. But you can check out some more of the contenders over at PopSci for now. [PopSci, Nikon Small World]