It’s A Small World.

The Nikon International Small World Competition first began in 1974 as a means to recognise and applaud the efforts of those involved with photography through the light microscope.
Since then, Small World has become a leading showcase for photomicrographers from the widest array of scientific disciplines.

Soap Film:

Snowflake:

Crystallized Soy Sauce:

Spiral Vessels From Banana Plant Stem:

These are just some of the entries for the 36th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition.
The winners will be announced on October 13th and you can vote for the best image HERE.

Photographic Firsts.

The First Photograph Ever Taken:

Produced in 1826, This was the first permanent photograph.
Made by French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce this image was later accidentally destroyed.

The First Photograph Of A Human Being:

Taken in Paris in 1838 the image is of a busy street but because the exposure time was over ten minutes,
The City traffic was moving too much to appear in the photograph.
The exception is a man in the bottom left corner who stood still long enough getting his boots polished to appear.

The First Light Picture & Human Portrait:

The first light picture was a self portrait taken in 1839 byRobert Cornelius.
It is also the first ever human portrait.

The First Colour Photograph:

Colour photography was explored throughout the 19th century.
Initial colour experiments resulted in projected temporary images, rather than permanent colour images.
Until the 1870s the emulsions available were not sensitive to red or green light.
The first colour photo, an additive projected image of a tartan ribbon, was taken in 1861 by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

The First High Speed Photograph:

In 1878, using a series of trip wires, Eadweard Muybridge created the first high speed photo series which could be run together to give the effect of motion pictures.
View it HERE.

The First Motion Picture:

The first celluloid film created in 1888.
The film only lasts for two seconds but it is enough time to see the characters walking. It was recorded at 12 frames per second by French inventor Louis Le Prince. It was filmed at the home of Joseph and Sarah Whitley, in Roundhay, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England on October 14 and the people who appear are Adophe Le Prince (Louis’s son), Sarah Whitley, Joseph Whitley, and Harriet Hartley.

Big Beasties.

I want a macro lens.

If I had a macro lens I could take really close up,
Insanely detailed photos of beasties and they would look like this:

That would be pretty cool I think.