The Photamateur: 10/17/10

Small Worlds

The Nikon International Small World Photomicrography Competition recently announced its list of winners for 2010. The competition began in 1974 as a means to recognize and applaud the efforts of those involved with photography through the light microscope. Peering into the small worlds of animal, plants and minerals using many techniques and different instruments, this year's entries brought us images of crystalline formations, fluorescent body parts, cellular structures and more, valuable for both their beauty and insight. The lovely folks at Nikon were kind enough to share some of their images here with us, be sure to click the link above to see all the winners.

Magnified 30 times, this is an image of a Hydropsyche angustipennis (caddisfly) larva head made by Fabrice Parais, of DREAL de Basse-Normandie in Caen, France. (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)

A single egg from a Hemiargus isola (Reakirt's blue butterfly) rests on Mimosa strigillosa (pink powderpuff) buds, viewed at 6x magnification. Image made by David Millard from Austin, Texas. (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)

Pekka Honkakoski of Sonkajarvi, Finland brings us this image of a snow crystal magnified 40 times. (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)

Magnified 10 times, a view of Dolichopodid sp. (fly) eyes made by Laurie Knight of Tonbridge, Kent, UK. (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)

Eclipse on the beach

As the New Moon's shadow slid across the southern Pacific on July 11, people gathered along the white, sandy Anakena Beach on the north side of Easter Island to watch a total solar eclipse. The experience was captured in this tantalizing composite image, constructed from a sequence of 50 consecutive exposures. At their center is the totally eclipsed Sun surrounded by a shimmering solar corona. From the well chosen viewpoint, palm trees appear in silhouette against a darkened sky and the faint light reflected in the water. Of course, towering above the onlookers, at the boundaries of land, ocean, and sky are Moai, the island's mysterious monolithic statues.

Credit & Copyright: Guillaume Blanchard

Rissa tra fotografi durante un matrimonio in Russia

Il mestiere del fotografo può essere pericoloso non solo per i rischi che si corrono con l’attrezzatura, ma anche perché può capitare di avere dei diverbi con dei colleghi. In questo video potete vedere un esempio di lite decisamente selvaggia che è avvenuta in Russia. Che i due stessero litigando su quale marca fosse migliore?

Reflections of light in the Trevi Fountain

Rome is the city of fountains, walking through its streets you can find fountains of all types and sizes. One of these fountains is in the heart of the Romans and all those people who love the period of DOLCE VITA. The beauty of the Trevi Fountain is amazing, the lights that are reflected in its waters are beautiful subject to photograph.

Aurora Over Alaska

Are those green clouds or aurora? Photographed above two weeks ago, puffy green aurora help the Moon illuminate the serene Willow Lake and the snowy Wrangell and Saint Elias Mountainsin eastern Alaska, USA. Although auroras might first appear to be moonlit clouds, they only add light to the sky and do not block background stars from view. Called northern lights in the northern hemisphere,auroras are caused by collisions between charged particles from the magnetosphere and air molecules high in the Earth's atmosphere. If viewed from space, auroras can be seen to glow in X-ray and ultraviolet light as well. Predictable auroras likely occur a few days after a powerful magnetic event has been seen on the Sun.

Aurora over Alaska
Credit & Copyright : Paul Alsop

Flowers

There are flowers and there are flowers. Not all flowers are equal in a photography sense. Some can look like they are easy to photograph, and in reality can be a pain in the neck to try and get all the detail. Others are fantastic, they look fantastic, they are easy to photograph and the picture comes out how you want! And then there are the ones that surprise you. They look average and uninteresting but get in close and you are staring at the surface of another world. All the curves, lines, colour comes out when you take the picture.

Some flowers look better very close up because of their size and detail. Perhaps with a smaller flower, it may look uninteresting from an arms length away but get it up close and it may look magnificent.