Stories & Features

2022 Optics Photo Contest

Jan 28, 2022 by IDEX Health & Science

2022 optics photo contest winner announcement

IDEX Health & Science hosted our first Optics Photo Contest this past month. We hoped participants would join the life science optics community in the rare opportunity to feature their best scientific images curated with optical filters. We wanted to applaud individuals who exemplify mastery in their field and demonstrate their expertise through the use of state-of-the art optical filters to capture every photon possible.

To that end, we’re delighted to announce that, while we received many fantastic entries, we have officially selected our top two favorites as winners of the 2022 Optics Photo Contest. Each winner will be receiving a $50 VISA Gift Card and a customized YETI mug as a thank you for their participation.

Please join us in congratulating Daniel Han of Diatoms Australia and Daisuke Inoue of Kyushu University! Scroll down to see our favorite submissions. We hope to host another contest in the future, and we look forward to seeing the amazing scientific images your instruments are able to capture.

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Learn more about our the filters that helped create these images

Fern sori (spore capsule)

By: Daniel Han, Microscopist at Diatoms Australia

Image Title: Fern sori (spore capsule)

Image Details: “Spores in capsules found on fern leaves after a storm, autofluorescence. Ferns reproduce asexually and sexually. The asexual component known as sporophyte is commonly found. The autofluorescence is strong and beautiful with fern.”

Instrument or platform used to create this image: Olympus Microscope, Semrock DAPI filter set

Micropatterning of reconstituted microtubules

By: Daisuke Inoue, Assistant Professor at Kyushu University

Image Title: Micropatterning of reconstituted microtubules

Image Details: “A stitched image of fluorescently labeled microtubules. In the image, microtubules were assembled on a micropatterned glass substrate.”

Instrument or platform used to create this image: Nikon Ti2-E inverted microscope (Nikon) equipped with a FITC Nikon fluorescence filter cube and a filter cube with a 50/50 mirror (Chroma). sCMOS Zyla5.5 (Andor) newly developed TIRF microscope (OPTO-LINE, Inc., Japan)


2022 Optics Photo Contest Rules

Welcome to our 2022 Optics Photo Contest. Join the life science optics community in the rare opportunity to feature your best scientific images curated with optical filters. We will be turning the spotlight on individuals who exemplify mastery in their field and demonstrate their expertise through the use of state-of-the art optical filters to capture every photon possible.

The Optics Photo Contest is

  1. For the growing, global life science optics community who create images of their applications that stand apart via their expertise, research, and creativity. Through this contest you can showcase your ability to push the limits of your work within the life science industry.
  2. A forum that brings people together within the life science optics community. Through this contest, we hope you will enjoy sharing examples of fluorescence imagery. Example applications include DNA sequencing, fluorescence microscopy and imaging, flow cytometry, high-throughput screening, point-of-care diagnostics, Raman & FTIR spectroscopy, fluorescence guided surgery, spatial biology and more. Here, professionals throughout the industry can acknowledge each other and be inspired by a diverse set of work.
  3. Open to all professionals regardless of field or application within the life science industry.

Contest Prizes

Contest winners will be selected based on creativity, ingenuity, and originality. The top 5 entries will win a $50 VISA gift card. All vetted contest participants including the top 5 winners will receive a yeti mug. All winners may be displayed on IDEX Health & Science and/or Semrock official website and social media, within marketing and informational materials, as well as other shared collateral, activities, or exhibitions managed by IDEX Health & Science, LLC. Attribution will be given to the owner.

How to Enter

Enter the IDEX Health & Science | Semrock 2022 Optics Photo Contest by providing all of the required information in the entry form below on this website. This form will be available until the contest deadline of February 18, 2022. There are no limits on the number of submissions.

Photo Recommendations

Image data file format JPEG, 3840 x 2160 pixels minimum, file size up to 15 MB.

Please note: After you hit submit, you will be given instructions on how to send your photo submission.

For further information about how IDEX collects, uses, and discloses personal data, please refer to our IDEX Business Contract Privacy notice.

Review our  Contest Terms & Conditions