The Close-up Photographer of the Year competition recently concluded its fifth year, and the winning images have been announced. With over 2,000 entries from 67 countries, judges carefully selected the best in eleven categories, including Animals, Insects, Butterflies and Dragonflies, Invertebrate Portrait, Underwater, Plants, Fungi and Slime Moulds, Intimate Landscape, Human Made, Micro, and Young Close-up Photographer of the Year.
This competition aims to showcase the skills and creativity of photographers who take captivating close-up photographs of the world around them, conveying the beauty and complexity of the world. Check out the most incredible winning close-up shots from the competition below.
Related: Close-Up Photographer of the Year 2022: 15 Winning Images
1. "The Bird Of The Forest" by Csaba Daróczi: Close-Up Photographer of the Year 2023 and 1st Place, 'Animals'
A Eurasian nuthatch soars through a forest in Hungary
2. "Red" by Bence Máté: Finalist, Insects
Ants judiciously gather different plant parts in Boca Tapada, Costa Rica.
3. "Fungi and Fairy Dust" by Bence Máté: 3rd Place in 'Fungi and Slime Molds'
Mist above fungi in Hatfield Forest, in Hertfordshire, England.
4. "Small Wanders" by Carlos Pérez Naval: 1st Place, 'Young'
"In the wall of some houses in Calamocha—the village in Spain where I live—it's possible to find pyrolusites. These magnesium minerals create stunning formations, which look just like petrified trees, but they are so small that they're tricky to spot. One day, I was lucky enough to find a Moorish gecko very close to the pyrolusite's wall, so I tried to make the most of the encounter."
5. "Dicyrtomina Ornata" by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas: 3rd Place, 'Young
A globular springtail on a log covered in moss.
6. "Undertow" by Csaba Daróczi: 1st Place, 'Intimate Landscape
An aquatic plant known as water violets (Hottonia palustris) submerged under moving water.
7. "Pinkaboo" by Chris Gug: 3rd Place, 'Underwater'
A golden damselfish, seen against a background of gorgonian coral in Misool, West Papua, Indonesia.
8. "Wood Ants Firing Acid Secretion" by René Krekels: 1st Place, 'Insects'
Ants fire acids like water pistols to scare off the photographer in the Netherlands.
9. "Heart Of The Sea" by Liang Fu: 2nd Place, 'Underwater'
A larval moray eel curled into a heart shape, as seen during a blackwater dive in Romblon, Philippines.
10. "Dune Wrestling" by Victor Tyakht: 2nd Place, 'Animals'
A pair of secret toadhead agamas engaged in a mating ritual in a small dune in the Kalmyk semi-desert, Kalmykia.
11. "Common Frog with Prey" by Max Wood: Finalist, 'Young'
A wood louse walks over a frog's eye in Farnham, Surrey, U.K.
12. "Gimme Shelter" by Henley Spiers: Finalist, 'Underwater'
A juvenile fish takes shelter in the open ocean beneath a blue-button hydroid in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
13. "Jumping Stick" by Tibor Molnar: 1st Place, 'Invertebrate Portrait'
A close-up of a Stiphra, which is part walking stick and part grasshopper.
14. "Butterfly Eggs" by Ye Fei Zhang: Finalist, 'Micro'
A pair of blue admiral butterfly eggs in Jiangyin, China.
15. "Twisted Dandelion" by Harald Cederlund: 3rd, 'Micro'
A microscopic view of part of a dandelion.
16. "Don't Lose Your Head" by Florian Dzula: Finalist, 'Insects'
A weevil head stuck in an acorn.
17. "Natural Architecture" By David Joseph: 3rd Place, 'Animals'
A sac spider constructs a silken tube or sac within a leaf.
