The winners of the 2024 Close-Up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) Awards have been announced, and the results are breathtaking! This year’s competition saw over 11,000 entries from 61 countries, showcasing the incredible talent of photographers capturing the hidden and delicate details of our world.From tiny insects to intricate fungi, and underwater scenes to incredible microscopic details, these photos show the amazing beauty of the world up close. Scroll down to discover some of the most captivating shots from this year’s competition, and be sure to check out thefull gallery of winners and finalistson the CUPOTY website!More info:cupoty.com|Instagram|Facebook|x.comThis post may includeaffiliate links.
The winners of the 2024 Close-Up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) Awards have been announced, and the results are breathtaking! This year’s competition saw over 11,000 entries from 61 countries, showcasing the incredible talent of photographers capturing the hidden and delicate details of our world.
From tiny insects to intricate fungi, and underwater scenes to incredible microscopic details, these photos show the amazing beauty of the world up close. Scroll down to discover some of the most captivating shots from this year’s competition, and be sure to check out thefull gallery of winners and finalistson the CUPOTY website!
More info:cupoty.com|Instagram|Facebook|x.com
This post may includeaffiliate links.
“After setting up camera traps to monitor forest wildlife over an extended period, I discovered a daily winter visitor—a pine marten. Capitalizing on this routine, I positioned my GoPro camera under the tree, configuring it to trigger with motion detection. After numerous experiments and adjustments, I finally succeeded in capturing a photograph of the elusive pine marten.”
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“The highland rainforests of the Andes are among the densest, coldest, and most humid forests on the planet. They are home to the only bear species native to South America: the Andean Bear. This particular individual, known as Nariz de Calavera (Skull Nose), is one of the largest bears living near Bogotá, Colombia, at the Ecopalacio Nature Reserve, about 30km east of the city.I wanted to capture the bear behaving naturally in its environment, seeking an intimate picture that showcased the unique ecosystem as though it were part of a dream. Using a camera trap, I was able to record the local wildlife without causing any disturbance.After several unsuccessful attempts, extensive research on the species, consultation with experts, and a great deal of patience, in 2023 I finally captured the image I had envisioned. Fortuitously, the rain splashed the lens in just the right spots, creating brushstrokes and textures that immerse the viewer in the humidity and cold of the highland Andean forests of Colombia. No bait was used in the making of this image.”
“I captured this image in late spring in southern Spain. Having previously observed bee-eaters with binoculars, I knew exactly where they would fly after hunting insects. This allowed me to strategically place a hide so that I could get a low point of view to blur the foreground and background flowers in the picture. I spent several weekend mornings in the hide, watching each bird catch 15-20 insects per hour, which provided ample opportunities for me to capture some attractive images. Using a high shutter speed, I was able to freeze the bird in flight, clearly showing the insect in its beak.”
“It’s always difficult for the judges. The standard of the entries is so high, that it’s a tricky task to pick one photograph as the standout winner. The vote for this year’s overall winner was very close indeed,” Dan Calder, CUPOTY co-founder, shared withBored Panda.
“In the freezing cold of winter, the 10°C environment inside an abandoned iron ore mine attracts lesser horseshoe bats. Researchers have noted that unlike other bats, these insect-eating species hunt even during winter, often flying out from the mines to feed in the forest on winter-flying moths. It’s remarkable to see bats taking flight among the bare trees of the Börzsöny mountains. For weeks, I experimented with setting up a camera trap near the mine’s entrance. On a moonlit night, a long exposure helped illuminate the forest, capturing the bats' winter flights without any disturbance or artificial guidance, strictly adhering to ethical photography guidelines. Witnessing their flight and feeling the air currents from their wings is truly magical. The picture shows two separate individual bats in a single exposure, showing the hidden nocturnal wonders of a wintry forest in the moonlight.”
“During a recent trip to Malaysia, I discovered this amazing bark spider after a long night trek up a mountain in the jungle. At the summit, I captured this shot using a 50-image handheld focus bracket set. The spider rested on a stick while I steadied my camera on my backpack for additional stability.”
The 11 category winners are:● Insects and overall winner – Svetlana Ivanenko● Animals – Santiago J. Monroy García● Butterflies & Dragonflies – Yong Miao● Arachnids – Pierluigi Rizzo● Invertebrate Portrait – Aran Gibbs● Underwater – Gabriel Jensen● Plants – Piet Haaksma● Fungi & Slime Moulds – Barry Webb● Intimate Landscape – Jean-Philippe Delobelle● Studio Art – Rob Blanken● Young (Under 18s) – Andrés Luis Dominguez BlancoEach category winner gets £250 in cash (around US $300) and a Universal License for all three Affinity apps (Photo, Designer, and Publisher) for macOS, Windows, and iPadOS. The winner of the Intimate Landscape category will also receive a subscription to FRAMES Photography magazine and its community. Additionally, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in the Studio Art category will receive Retouch4me Dust, Color Match, and Portrait Volumes plug-ins.
The 11 category winners are:
● Insects and overall winner – Svetlana Ivanenko
● Animals – Santiago J. Monroy García
● Butterflies & Dragonflies – Yong Miao
● Arachnids – Pierluigi Rizzo
● Invertebrate Portrait – Aran Gibbs
● Underwater – Gabriel Jensen
● Plants – Piet Haaksma
● Fungi & Slime Moulds – Barry Webb
● Intimate Landscape – Jean-Philippe Delobelle
● Studio Art – Rob Blanken
● Young (Under 18s) – Andrés Luis Dominguez Blanco
Each category winner gets £250 in cash (around US $300) and a Universal License for all three Affinity apps (Photo, Designer, and Publisher) for macOS, Windows, and iPadOS. The winner of the Intimate Landscape category will also receive a subscription to FRAMES Photography magazine and its community. Additionally, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in the Studio Art category will receive Retouch4me Dust, Color Match, and Portrait Volumes plug-ins.
“While exploring the sand dunes on Holywell Bay Beach in Cornwall, I came across a tiny mushroom poking out of the sand. My priority was on photographing insects, but the sandy coating on this mushroom intrigued me. I set up my camera on the ground and used the focus-bracketing feature of my camera to capture all the frames needed to reveal as much detail as possible.”
“I was strolling through the flower meadow of my backyard in Austria, checking for insects and spiders as usual, when this magnificent little critter caught my eye. I immediately ran to the house to get my camera. Luckily, I was fast enough and managed to capture a few stacks of it before it disappeared. I really love its mandibles, which look like tiny boxing gloves.”
“We introduced the Arachnids category for CUPOTY 6 and are very pleased with the entries we had for it. We’re always reviewing the categories and there may be a fresh one for 2025, but we haven’t decided yet,” Dan Calder told Bored Panda.
“Robber Flies are among my favorite subjects to photograph, but capturing a macro image of one is no easy task. They are quite skittish, and during the day, they usually fly away long before you can get close enough for a good shot. This particular individual was no exception. I spotted it on a hot, sunny day and couldn’t get near it on my first few attempts. However, I noticed it had prey, and since I had been hoping to capture a Robber Fly with prey for quite some time, I decided to keep trying.Eventually, I got lucky, and the fly allowed me to get within range for a good photo. But one shot wasn’t enough—I wanted to create a focus stack to ensure the eyes of both flies were sharp and in focus. Fortunately, the fly stayed still for a few more seconds, allowing me to capture this focus stack of 24 images.”
“In July, Tianmushan Nature Reserve in China is immersed in a hot and romantic atmosphere. This is the fourth consecutive year that I have stepped into this primeval forest, tracing the footsteps of that murmuring stream. Just as the sky was about to darken, I was still exploring the upper reaches of the stream, when, at the bottom of a turbulent bend, I discovered a damselfly (Archineura incarnata) resting on a rock. Its head was lowered to the surface of the water as if appreciating its own reflection. At that moment, time seemed to stand still. Any slight disturbance would make it fly away, so I immersed my body in the water and cautiously crawled towards it. From a distance of about two meters, I firmly set my camera and captured this precious scene.”
When asked about the standout themes or trends in this year’s entries, Dan noted that focus stacking remained a particularly popular technique. “This is when the photographer takes multiple shots of the subject, getting a little closer or further away with each shot. Each frame taken is then combined to make one final image that is super-sharp and rich in detail throughout. Examples of this are found in the Invertebrate Portrait finalists, Will Menzies' ‘Loving Embrace’, and Artur Tomaszek’s ‘Crazy in Love’.A lot of images photographed at night seemed to do well this year, many from Hungary. Mayflies gathering in Imre Potyó’s ‘Mayfly Arena’, Avilash Ghosh’s ‘My Own Galaxy’, Tibor Litauszki’s ‘A Graceful Flight’, Imre Potyó’s ‘Moonlight’, Tibor Litauszki’s ‘On the Way Home’, José Luis Gigireys ‘The Cave,’ and Ferenc Kocsis' ‘Sphere’ were some of the pictures showing wildlife behavior at night.”
When asked about the standout themes or trends in this year’s entries, Dan noted that focus stacking remained a particularly popular technique. “This is when the photographer takes multiple shots of the subject, getting a little closer or further away with each shot. Each frame taken is then combined to make one final image that is super-sharp and rich in detail throughout. Examples of this are found in the Invertebrate Portrait finalists, Will Menzies' ‘Loving Embrace’, and Artur Tomaszek’s ‘Crazy in Love’.
A lot of images photographed at night seemed to do well this year, many from Hungary. Mayflies gathering in Imre Potyó’s ‘Mayfly Arena’, Avilash Ghosh’s ‘My Own Galaxy’, Tibor Litauszki’s ‘A Graceful Flight’, Imre Potyó’s ‘Moonlight’, Tibor Litauszki’s ‘On the Way Home’, José Luis Gigireys ‘The Cave,’ and Ferenc Kocsis' ‘Sphere’ were some of the pictures showing wildlife behavior at night.”
“I had seen ear-pick fungus a couple of times before, but this was the first one I found myself. Auriscalpium vulgare grows on pine cones and has an eccentric stem attached to one side of the cap, with unusual and distinctive downward-pointing, teeth-like gills. This specimen is particularly small, at around 15 mm tall. I placed a leaf carefully behind the pine cone to create a complementary background, and fired off 74 focus-bracketed shots to obtain sufficient depth of field and to keep the background nicely diffused.”
“After decades of absence, the spectacular and endangered Danube mayfly (Ephoron virgo) returned to the River Danube in 2012, likely due to improving water quality. This species had vanished from Middle European rivers for decades owing to pollution.For the past 12 years, I have spent up to 25 nights each summer photographing the mayflies as they swarm on quiet nights. These insects have a fleeting lifespan of just a few hours and their swarming behavior is unpredictable. At some point, they will emerge after sunset and begin their dance just above the water’s surface.Using a fisheye lens and a combination of continuous light and flash, I managed to capture the mesmerizing sight of female and male mayflies chasing each other in an endless mass. These images are incredibly precious to me, as they help raise awareness of these spectacular and endangered water insects.”
“After a foggy night in early spring, I noticed many water droplets still clung to some moss in my garden. I used a large aperture with a 150mm macro lens to create a soft, quiet background. Only after combining two shots of the same area, and adjusting the color temperature to create a dreamy blue tint did I achieve the image I had in mind.”
“For a brief period in the summer, stag beetles (Lucanus cervus) engage in fierce battles for mating rights. These elusive creatures inhabit oak forests, making them hard to find. Witnessing this beautiful event makes me want to share it with everyone.”
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“During a night walk at Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary in Goa, India, I found this bracket fungus. It was producing clouds of spores, which drew me over. As I approached, a leaf hopper landed on the fungus. Using an LED torch allowed me to backlight the scene and capture the swirls of spores around the fungus and insect.”
“The photo portrays a female Mediterranean black widow intent on eating its prey. It results from overlapping two photos, taken and designed for this aim. In the first photo, I shot the spider’s abdomen to emphasize the spider’s characteristic red spots. In the second photo, I wanted to capture the moment of feeding so I placed a flash with a blue gel behind the spider to obtain its silhouette. The two photos were merged in-camera.”
“I was searching for scorpions at night in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India. After spotting this one, I approached it slowly and very cautiously so as not to disturb it. Once close enough, I lit up the ripples in the sand with an LED torch and made the scorpion glow blue with the help of a faint UV light.”
“Winter moths are active throughout the winter months. After sunset, females climb tree trunks to release pheromones, attracting males that flutter around in search of them. This nocturnal dance is invisible to us unless we shine a light on them. When we do, the forest transforms into a fairy tale, with hundreds of pale grey moths slowly flitting about.This image was captured using a stroboscopic flash. It shows a single winter moth frozen in five positions as it flew along its circular path, with the small light from my headlamp tracing its movement.”
“I have a particular fondness for these small orchids (Autumn lady’s-tresses) as they symbolize nature’s renewal in the ‘second spring.’ Their elongated shape and gentle spiral give them an especially graceful appearance. I photographed these three, only a little larger than a blade of grass, in the city of Toulouse one October morning.”
“Drawing from my experience as a jazz musician and architectural photographer, my macro photography emerges from improvising structure in everyday objects and spaces. By focusing on movement, texture, shape, and form, I capture an evolving dance of contrasting elements, echoing the idea that ‘architecture is frozen music.’ I invite the viewer to discover order and rhythm while experiencing a sense of balance and calm in the mundane and often overlooked.”
“On a cold winter’s evening, I was photographing this striking 5cm tall Candlesnuff fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon) using backlit flash to capture the movement of the spores. Suddenly, in the near-freezing darkness, a December moth (Poecilocampa populi) fluttered around me. Freshly awakened, it landed near my equipment and then onto the fungus. With my flash lighting up the scene, the moth walked and flapped its wings on the fungus, causing more spores to swirl in the air.These are unforgettable and tense moments for me. I believe that through our photographs, we can raise awareness of these natural wonders.”
“As a marine biologist working in Southern California, I am lucky to have the opportunity to scuba dive in kelp forests. This image was made during a surface interval between dives at one of my favorite dive sites on Santa Barbara Island in Channel Islands National Park. My goal was to evoke a calm flow throughout the image to help show the elegance of giant kelp.In this photograph, you can see the giant kelp’s pneumatocysts (gas-filled bladders), blades, and stipe. The pneumatocysts help the kelp to stay upright in the water column. The blades or leaf-like structures are where photosynthesis occurs. The stipe holds everything together. In ideal conditions, giant kelp can grow at a rate of up to two feet per day. When giant kelp reaches the surface, it continues growing and forms a canopy on the surface of the water. This image represents only a small portion of the canopy in this particular kelp forest.”
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