Tiny world through a big lens

It has been some time since I've taken a look at the current articles in the Art/Culture section of the Smithsonian Magazine website so that I would go ahead and check it out so see what news has happened recently. One of the articles from October 29^th caught my attention mainly because I have several photography friends who might be interested. The article, titled Nikon announces the Winners of its“Small World” Competition (written and posted originally by Megan Gambino who's most recent posting was Beetles Invasion: One Artist'sTake on the Insect which is also an interesting read), gives the reader a small overview of the Photomicrography competition and shows the amazing photos which was chosen as the winners. For those out there who are not familiar with the term of Photomicrography, it is commonly refered to as micro photography which is an image which shows the viewer a super zoomed in look of a subject matter. In the the realm of fine art, micro paintings are actually in reference to miniature pieces of work that often need a magnifying glass or microscope to view it but let me not get ahead of myself. Some of the winners that were listed were Walter Piorkowski, Dylan Burnette, Michael John Bridge, Geir Drange, Alvaro Migotto, Diana Lipscomb, José R. Almodóvar Rivera, Charles Krebs, David Maitland, Somayeh Naghiloo, and Dorit Hockman. 

"When Seasons Meet" by Sandy515

Thinking of some of the photographers on deviantART who have some beautiful examples of close up view captures, I found myself looking through some of the photos I have in my favorites folder that I wanted to share. It was pretty difficult to narrow it down to just a couple so not to just spam pictures all over. I finally narrowed it down to 3 examples of work that the judges of the Photomicrography competition could have been going through when looking at the over 2,000 submissions that came in from around the world. 

Sandy515.deviantart.com (Russia)

A photographer from Russia, Irene's work focuses mostly on natural elements (flowers, leaves, etc.). Having a soft, gentle feel to each one, I decided to pick a photo she captured in Janurary 2009, in which Irene states in the description of the photo:

Dandelion seed with a snowflake. I had this idea for a long time, but the weather let me make it only today. It's my first real winter shot. And also this is for the Seasons contest by InLightImagery.deviantart.com 

Here're two seasons together. I think it's very scarcely that such a meeting could happen without my little help. 

"Red Veined Darter II" by struller

struller.deviantart.com (Germany)

Focusing on nature, be it from landscapes to small animals and insects, this gallery is a joy to visit. Surprisingly taken back in November 2007, Martin Amm's photo of a due covered dragonfly is always fascinating to look at. His simple commentary in the description is:

Taken before sunrise, when the dew covers everything.
d200 - bellow - enlarging lens

Dark-Raptor.deviantart.com (Poland)

Dark-Raptor is actually the combined works of 2 different people, D. Kucharski and K. Kucharska. They are both biologists, focusing on entomology, arachnology, parasitology and ecology. Both have some beautiful work but this particular piece (captured in January 2010) is one of the wonderful examples of extreme close-up. Stated in the description:

Extreme close-up of scales on a swallowtail's (Papilio machaon) wing.

Nikon D200, two sets of extension tubes, reversed Takumar 28/2.