The winners of the Close-Up Photographer of the Year competition have been announced.
It’s the competition’s sixth year, and though based in the UK, it’s open to photographers from all over the world.
Some stunning pictures were in the mix this year, including a bird snacking mid-flight, an insect covered in fungus and an adorable harvest mouse peeking through some wheat.
Let’s take a look at some of the incredible pics!
More stunning snaps
Titled Clash of the Titans, the battle certainly looks as dramatic as the name suggests [Svetlana Ivanenko / cupoty.com]
The overall winner was also first place in the insects category, taken by Svetlana in Russia.
It shows two male stag beetles locking horns during an intense battle in an oak forest.
Svetlana said where the insects live makes them very hard to find; “I travelled 700km to witness this beautiful event and I want to share it with everyone.”
It’s really tricky to capture something moving quickly in such detail [Andres Luis Dominguez Blanco / cupoty.com]
The competition has different of categories, such as underwater, plants and fungi.
There’s also a ‘young’ category where under 18s can compete.
The winner was 14-year-old Andrés from Spain, with his colourful photo of a European Bee-eater mid-flight with an insect in its beak.
He said he created a special hiding place to observe them: “I spent several weekend mornings in the hide, watching each bird catch 15-20 insects per hour.”
This is titled Afternoon Snack, but if anything, this would put you off your tea… [Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas / cupoty.com]
In second place was 17-year-old Alexis from Germany, who captured a robber fly snacking on a flesh fly. Yum!
Apparently the flies are pretty tricky models to work with: “They are quite skittish and usually fly away before you can get close enough for a good shot.
“I spotted this particular fly on a hot, sunny day and initially struggled to approach it.
“However, I noticed it had prey, and since I had long hoped to capture a robber fly with prey, I kept trying. Eventually, the fly allowed me to get within range,” Alexis said.
The fungus on its back is a type of parasite – an organism that needs to feed off another living thing in order to survive [Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas / cupoty.com]
Alexis also nabbed the third place spot with their photo, Pandora.
It shows a small round insect called a globular springtail – so named because they jump to avoid predators – infected by a fungus.
Usually when the insect is infected in this way their head curls underneath themselves, making them less interesting to photograph.
“However, when I spotted this one after rolling over a log, I knew it was special”, Alexis said, as the head was fully visible.
The fungus, called Pandora deplphacis, is a species about which not much is known.
This was captured first thing in the morning in a river meadow in Germany [Lina Grüppe / cupoty.com]
Each category has a number of runner-ups, too. This is called On Fire, and you can see why – just look at those colours!
It’s by 17-year-old Lina from Germany, and shows two banded demoiselles which are a flying insect similar to dragonflies.
Harvest mice live in farms and woodland areas [Jamie Smart / cupoty.com]
And this adorable harvest mouse was captured by eight-year-old Jamie from the UK.
He was over the moon to get a shot of something so cute: “I love the way this little mouse looks like it’s peeping through wheat curtains with a curious look on its face.”
