Winning image from Ole Bielfeldt uses a microscope objective and deconstructed printer to capture ink droplets in motion
MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Nikon Instruments Inc. today unveiled the winners of its 52nd annual Nikon Small World photomicrography competition, honoring the world's most remarkable images captured through the microscope. The first-place prize was awarded to Ole Bielfeldt, a student and experimental photographer based in Cologne, Germany, for his image of ink droplets suspended inside an inkjet printer as it prints. Captured using a self-constructed imaging rig, using a microscope objective, Bielfeldt's image sheds light on the previously unseen intricacies of a common process: printing words onto paper.
Bielfeldt is the creator behind macrofying, his photography and videography brand, where he combines photography, microscopy, and self-built equipment to showcase everyday objects in an unfamiliar manner. The winning image was guided by his search to answer a simple question: How does a printer place ink onto paper so precisely? At normal scale, the process happens too quickly and too routinely to notice. But under Bielfeldt's lens, tiny droplets travel through the air before landing on glossy paper, exposing the machinery, motion, and small imperfections hidden within a device many people use every day.
"I think it was super interesting because I didn't know how it really worked," Bielfeldt said of the printer's internal process. "It's like it was magic, and I didn't understand it, but now I do."
Capturing that moment required Bielfeldt to rethink both the printer and the imaging setup. His first attempts failed because the printhead moved too quickly to keep a small area in focus, and the droplets were too fast for his camera's shutter speed. Rather than turning to expensive equipment, he reverse-engineered the printer so the paper instead moved beneath a stationary printhead. Working in a dark room, he then used a flash to freeze the droplets in midair, allowing the brief burst of light to serve as the effective shutter.
"After trying and failing many times to capture the droplets in motion, I thought I would need some expensive equipment," Bielfeldt said. "But it turned out I already had everything I needed."
"Ole Bielfeldt's winning image embodies what makes Nikon Small World so powerful: the intersection of microscope imaging, ingenuity, and artistry," said Eric Flem, senior manager, communications and CRM at Nikon Instruments. "By using a microscope objective in a different way, he transformed a familiar object into something altogether new and previously unseen. It is a reminder that the microscope is not only a scientific tool but also a creative one, capable of expanding how we see and imagine the world around us."
Bielfeldt's path to the winning image began during the COVID-19 lockdown, when he found an old school microscope in his parents' attic and built an adapter from a tube and wood to connect it to the body of a camera borrowed from his father. Since then, he has continued to learn through experimentation, online research, and trial and error, building custom tools when an idea requires them. He also documents his process in behind-the-scenes videos, giving viewers a closer look at the problem-solving behind each image.
For Bielfeldt, the appeal of microscopy lies in the uncertainty of real subjects. He said he rejected the idea of using AI to generate his images, preferring the challenge of classic techniques such as focus stacking, Photoshop, and retouching to create a striking image from something that actually exists.
Second place was awarded to John-Oliver Dum for his image of a jumping spider (Salticus scenicus) with pollen.
Third place was awarded to Kaelin Wulf and Rachel Flannery for their image of neurons in an expanded mouse brain.
The 2026 Judging Panel included:
- Joe Dragavon, Ph.D., Director of the BioFrontiers Institute's Advanced Light Microscopy Core and Director of Core Facilities and Shared Instrumentation at the University of Colorado Boulder
- Quinten Geldhof, Technical designer at the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts
- Corey S. Powell, Award-winning science writer, editor, and communicator
- Meredith Sagolla, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Advanced Light Microscopy and Electron Microscopy (CALM-EM) at Genentech
For additional information, please visit www.nikonsmallworld.com, or follow the conversation on Facebook, Twitter @NikonSmallWorld and Instagram @NikonSmallWorld.
NIKON SMALL WORLD WINNERS
1st Place
Ole Bielfeldt
macrofying
Cologne, Northrhine-Westfalia, Germany
Microscopic view of an inkjet printer depositing ink onto paper
Slow-Motion, Image Stacking
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
2nd Place
John-Oliver Dum
Medienbunker Produktion
Bendorf, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany
Jumping spider (Salticus scenicus) with pollen
Image Stacking
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
3rd Place
Kaelin Wulf & Ms. Rachel Flannery
Allen Institute
Department of Neural Dynamics
Seattle, Washington, USA
Neurons in an expanded mouse brain
Expansion Microscopy, Fluorescence, Light Sheet
5X (Objective Lens Magnification)
4th Place
Justin Theodore Benttinen
Benttinen Photography
Berkeley, California, USA
Tip of a ballpoint pen
Image Stacking, Reflected Light
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
5th Place
Mike Crutchley
Pembrokeshire, Southwest Wales, United Kingdom
Inner structure of a closed daisy
Darkfield, Image Stacking
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
6th Place
Eric Epstein
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Hemitrichia slime mold spore structures (fruiting bodies)
Image Stacking
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
7th Place
Dr. Bruno Cisterna & Dr. Eric Vitriol
Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Department of Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine
Augusta, Georgia, USA
Human neurons reprogrammed from skin cells growing in a microfluidic chamber
Confocal
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
8th Place
Dr. Marcel Clemens
Verona, Veneto, Italy
Pencil lead during exposure to a high-voltage electrical discharge
Image Stacking
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
9th Place
Dr. Francisco Lรกzaro-Diรฉguez
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, New York, USA
Dedifferentiated liver endothelial cell
Confocal
40X (Objective Lens Magnification)
10th Place
Michael Parra Puentes
Macrotipos
Bogotรก, Cundinamarca, Colombia
A parasitoid wasp (๐ถ๐๐๐ข๐๐ sp.) emerging from a butterfly chrysalis (๐๐๐ ๐๐โ๐๐๐๐ sp.)
Image Stacking
3.7X (Objective Lens Magnification)
11th Place
Svenja Carolin Kling
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine
La Jolla, California, USA
20 day old sea urchin larva with blue fluorescent nuclei
Confocal
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
12th Place
Dr. Gonzalo Quiroga Artigas
CRBM-CNRS
Montpellier, Herault, France
A tardigrade molting and laying an egg in the old skin
Confocal
40X (Objective Lens Magnification)
13th Place
Sebastian Sparenga
McCrone Research Institute
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Recrystallized estrogen
Polarized Light
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
14th Place
Mike Crutchley
Pembrokeshire, Southwest Wales, United Kingdom
Pilobolus fungi on sheep dung
Image Stacking
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
15th Place
Dr. Julien Resseguier
University of Oslo
Department of Biosciences
Oslo, Viken, Norway
Mouse trachea showing tiny hair-like cells that move mucus and nearby nerves (blue) associated with the muscles (yellow)
Confocal, Deconvolution, Fluorescence
60X (Objective Lens Magnification)
16th Place
Pierre Nouaux & Laurent Kodjabachian, Camille Boutin
Centre de Biologie Intรฉgrative (CBI)
Toulouse, France, France
Embryonic Xenopus skin cells, showing cilia (green), centrioles (red), and cell membranes (white)
Confocal, Fluorescence
63X (Objective Lens Magnification)
17th Place
Dr. Gauri Kulkarni & NA
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
Lab-grown human intestinal tissue showing glowing, brick-like epithelial cell connections that form the intestine's protective barrier
Confocal
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
18th Place
Bilal Akhtar
Institute of Molecular Biology
Department of RNA Biology
Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
14-day-old mouse hippocampal neurons showing nuclei (green) and synaptic proteins (red)
Confocal
40X (Objective Lens Magnification)
19th Place
Satu Paavonsalo & Dr.