Color, texture, and shape sublimely intermingle in the world outside my window. Mottled green vines grow in a tangle punctuated by shiny red orbs of cherry tomatoes. Scalloped leaves drift to the ground as the wind rustles the tree branches. But gazing at this tableau, I know another visual feast hides in plain sight: the world of the tiny.

From spiky grains of pollen to the golden scales of a butterfly’s wing, the smallest details are easy to overlook. So every year Nikon’s Small World Photomicrography Competition reminds us of that diminutive beauty. Now in its 47th year, the competition received 1,900 entries from 88 countries from people seeking to visualize the details often invisible to the naked eye.

Nikon’s competition honors