Water, an essential element for life, has always inspired photographers, fascinating them with its constant transformations and captivating characteristics.

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“For a long time, the idea of ​​capturing the graceful ballet of damselflies flying over the Garonne (the river that winds near my home) had been running through my head. It’s enchanting to observe hundreds of these creatures circling, skilfully capturing midges and other insects in mid-flight every summer. One day, I settled in the water at a spot where I had noticed a damselfly regularly returned to rest. I waited patiently for its return. At each appearance I fired my camera in burst mode, hoping to capture the moment when its wings would be spread in all their glory. After a hundred attempts, I finally managed to obtain the image I desired.”

3rd Place: “The Ice Skater” By Sebastien Blomme

“At Mousecroft pool, Shrewsbury, I photographed this damselfly covered in dew during the early morning hours, at around 3 am, in May. Given that insects are cold-blooded and need warmth to move, they typically rest at night. The sudden drop in temperature causes dew to cling to them. This moment is ideal for portraits as they cannot move or fly. As they warm up with the rising sun in the morning, they wipe away the moisture and fly off. To enhance the visual appeal, I used a colored background card to add contrast and additional hues to the image. Afterward, I stacked the frames in Helicon Focus, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop, and then finished off with Topaz DeNoise.”

Finalist: “Long Over Dew” By Pete Burford

1st Place: “Between The Stars” By Tibor Litauszki

Hungarian photographer Tibor Litauszki snagged the top spot in the 2023 CUPOTY CHALLENGE: Water with his cool snap of a newt munching on frog eggs in the dark. The photographer takes home £300 and gets his photo showcased to the world, along with 12 other pics, on thewinner’s page.

Finalist: “Milking Bonnets” By Tony North

Finalist: “Sparkling Crown” By Claudia Gaupp

British photographer Ian Gilmour captured 2nd place with his daring and imaginative photo of flowers frozen in ice. Sebastien Blomme from France secured the 3d place on the podium with a graceful damselfly perched on the water.

“This beautiful snake was looking for prey in a pond. I was really lucky because it stopped right in front of me to taste the air. The light was very soft because it was a cloudy day. I used a 300mm lens to capture this portrait. I will never forget this encounter.”

Finalist: “Periscope” By Marco Maggesi

Finalist: “Last Flight” By Harald Cederlund

Tracy Calder, the co-founder of CUPOTY, said, “It’s not easy to select a winner from so many different styles and subjects of photography, but expert judges David Maitland, Ross Hoddinott, Keith Wilson, Tracy Calder and the team fromAmateur Photographermagazine rose to the challenge.”

“I submerged some wild poppies in water with tiarella flowers and froze them overnight. I then placed the frozen block on a lightbox and photographed them using my Venus Laowa super macro lens. My first attempt was unsuccessful as the water was cloudy, so I boiled the water before re-freezing for the second attempt, which seemed to give a better result.”

2nd Place: “Poppies Tiarella In Ice” By Ian Gilmour

Finalist: “Slime Moulds And Raindrops” By Barry Webb

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“We asked photographers to show us work on a Water theme. Our callout was answered with images of seahorses swimming through kelp, flowers bejeweled with rain, and insects drying out their wings before taking flight, among so many other things. As usual, looking at all the entries was both educational and inspiring.”

“This picture was taken in a pond near Ladenburg, Germany. It was shot from a low angle so that the reflection of the frog’s eyes was just visible. I then decided to turn it upside down to confuse the viewer and encourage him or her to look more closely.”

Finalist: “You See Better With Four Eyes” By Gabi Swart

“The earliest signs of a changing season are captivating to me. By mid-November, nights become bitingly cold. At morning’s light, I visited a pond in Vermont to find the first ice of the season. For me, this scene is thrilling beyond words. Seeing the physical change of water into a striking geometric marvel is an experience that makes me appreciate the glories of life.”

Finalist: “Pond Geometry” By Abby Raeder

“While searching for macro subjects on dead wood in winter I came across this springtail (Neanura muscorum) covered in dew droplets. Normally this species is quite active, which makes focus stacking almost impossible, but this individual stayed quite still, giving me the opportunity to get a high-magnification focus stack. I used Zerene Stacker to combine the frames and sharpened the final image with Topaz DeNoise AI.”

Finalist: “Moss Springtail” By Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas

Finalist: “Plastic Sailors” By Sandra Stalker

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