At first glance, the photo above may look like a grove of alien-esque trees as seen from below. But this picture wasn’t taken on some otherworldly planet—it’s actually an extreme close-up of the inside of a cauliflower soft coral living in the Lembeh Strait, Indonesia.
The mind-bending image just won Australian photographer Ross Gudgeon the grand prize in the Close-Up Photographer of the Year competition. This annual contest is dedicated to revealing the hidden wonder of the world through macro, micro, and close-up imagery. Gudgeon’s winning photo is one of over 12,000 entries to the seventh edition of the competition, with participating photographers spanning 63 countries.
“Named for its cauliflower-like form, this soft coral is made up of countless small, rounded polyps that give it a puffy texture,” he explained in a press release. “I wanted to explore a perspective that isn’t possible with conventional lenses, and an underwater probe lens allowed me to do that.”
Gudgeon carefully threaded the lens through the coral’s branches, taking great care not to disturb them. This allowed him to capture his subject from within, offering a very unique view of an otherwise common marine organism.
Read on to check out all of this year’s category winners and see nature from a whole new perspective.
Insects winner: Blue Army
Danube mayflies (Ephoron virgo) swarm in Szentendre, Hungary. © Imre Potyó/CUPOTY
For 40 years, the endangered Danube mayfly vanished entirely from the Hungarian Danube River largely due to pollution and habitat loss. But in 2012, the species suddenly returned thanks to improved water quality.
According to environmental researcher and wildlife photographer Imre Potyó, the summer of 2024 was memorable for fans of these mayflies, as their breeding season lasted nearly a month. He waded deep into the Danube’s strong currents to photograph the swarm of activity from within, capturing this ghostly image.
Young photographer winner: Guardians of the Hive
Stingless bee (likely Tetragonula sp.) nest in Mezhathur, Kerala, India © Rithved Girish/CUPOTY
During his summer holiday in Kerala, India, 14-year-old wildlife photographer Rithved Girish stumbled upon a nest of stingless bees, likely from the Tetragonula family. These “small yet remarkable” bees had constructed their home using wax, resin, and mud, building a unique tube-shaped entrance to their colony, Girish explained in a statement.
“I make it a point to explore and learn more about the natural world whenever I visit India,” he said. “No bait or attractants were used whilst capturing this moment, allowing their natural [behavior] to remain undisturbed. This image serves as a reminder of the vital role these tiny creatures play in maintaining ecological balance.”
Arachnids winner: Dinner
A lynx spider (Oxyopes sp.) feeds on a few termites in Hong Kong. © Artur Tomaszek/CUPOTY
Lynx spiders are ambush predators, meaning they do not use webs to catch their meals. Instead, they actively hunt prey by sight, relying on their cat-like speed, agility, and talent for staying quietly hidden until it’s time to strike. Wildlife photographer Artur Tomaszek came across this one during a moth survey in Hong Kong. It had been a very hot, dry spring, but that evening, the rain finally came, prompting thousands of termites to swarm as they began their mating dance.
“This provided an excellent opportunity for the lynx spider to make its catch of the night,” Tomaszek said in a statement. “The main difficulty in capturing the picture was the thousands of termites flying in my face, attracted by the camera’s flash. In the end, the spider managed to catch two or three termites at once, creating this striking scene.”
Animals winner: Amphibian Galaxy
A Malagasy frog (Guibemantis sp.) egg clutch hangs on a small trunk next to a pond in Maromizaha rainforest, Madagascar. © Filippo Carugati/CUPOTY
Conducting fieldwork during cyclone season allowed PhD student and wildlife photographer Filippo Carugati to witness the spectacular mass reproduction of Malagasy frogs in the Maromizaha rainforest of Madagascar.
“During my nocturnal explorations, I was deeply impressed by the variability in shapes, colours, and sizes of the numerous egg clutches deposited on leaves, branches, and trunks,” Carugati said in a statement. In this shot, he captured a large egg clutch roughly 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 centimeters) long hanging on a small tree trunk.
“Inside this egg aggregation, several tadpoles were swimming peacefully through the gelatinous substance. Using an external remote-controlled flash, I lit the subject from behind, enhancing the shapes of the converging tadpoles and the [colorful] mixture within the gelatine, which suggested a cosmic appearance.”
Butterflies winner: Butterfly Flash
A Camberwell beauty (Nymphalis antiopa) flashes its wings to defend its feeding spot on a birch tree trunk in Follo, Norway © Pål Hermansen/CUPOTY
Wildlife photographer Pål Hermansen captured this Camberwell beauty butterfly sitting on a birch tree trunk in Follo, Norway. The insect was drawn to this resting spot by the tree’s leaking sap—caused by an attack of goat moth larvae—but it wasn’t the only creature eyeing this sweet spot. Some red admiral butterflies and wasps wanted a taste for themselves.
“When the wasps approached, the Camberwell beauty did not fly off, but instead defended the spot by suddenly flashing its wings several times,” Hermansen said in a statement. “The other insects kept their distance, allowing it to spend sufficient time feeding undisturbed.”
Fungi winner: Mushroom in the ‘Nude’ Style
Fragment of the lower part of the cap of a lamellar mushroom in Moscow region, Russia © Valeria Zvereva/CUPOTY
This isn’t some abstract painting—it’s actually an extreme close-up of the lower portion of a lamellar mushroom cap. This image, taken by photographer Valeria Zvereva near Moscow, Russia, highlights the fungus’s papery “lamellae.” These gill-like structures maximize spore production and enable their release for reproduction.
“After all, there is something of the ‘nude’ style in this,” Zvereva said of the aptly named photograph, according to a statement.
Studio art winner: Copper Works No.25 – 2024
A copper plate distressed and oxidised by everyday household materials © Paul Kenny/CUPOTY
For 50 years, artist Paul Kenny’s work has concentrated on creating visual landscapes out of scraps of materials found along the shores of Great Britain. But after moving back to the city at the age of 71, a new body of work began to emerge.
“My new environment conjured up memories of my upbringing in the post-Industrial Revolution Lowry-esque landscape of inner-city Salford,” Kenny explained in a statement. He replaced the fragments of flotsam and jetsam that long served as the source of his medium with chemical fragments of common household materials, such as bleach, cleaners, gardening products, and bathroom products. Kenny created this image by distressing a copper plate, then capturing the resulting patterns with a scanner.
Plants winner: Rebirth From Destruction
Decaying lotus leaves and floating fern (Salvinia natans) in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, China © Minghui Yuan/CUPOTY
Wildlife photographer Minghui Yuan discovered these decaying lotus leaves floating atop the dark surface of a pond outside the tropical rainforest of Xishuangbanna, China. In this close-up image, their skeletal veins create a delicate lacework of purple and green, with bright clusters of floating fern that had sprung up between them.
“Floating fern thrives only in warm, clean waters, so finding it here amongst these skeletal leaves felt like the rebirth of hope and a symbol of the continuation of life,” Yuan said in a statement.
Invertebrate portrait winner: Good Boy
A moth (Bombycidae sp.) in Tinamaste, Costa Rica © Laurent Hesemans/CUPOTY
“A favourite quarry of many macro photographers, it is always a lovely opportunity to spend time with members of the Bombycid family,” nature filmmaker and photographer Laurent Hesemans said in a statement. This family of moths—known as silkworm moths—is incredibly photogenic.
“The large eyes and antenna positions of these moths, especially the males, always lend their portraits a somewhat melancholy feeling,” Hesemans said. “They are a lesson in beautiful subtlety and a reminder to always give even the simplest arthropods and small creatures a second, closer look.”
Intimate landscape winner: Dreamy State
A tree covered with rime ice in Nagano Prefecture, Japan © Sho Hoshino
Photographer Sho Hoshino waited until the sunrise turned the morning mist pink before snapping this beautiful photo of a rime-ice-covered tree in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, creating a composition of soft, pale tones anchored by the dark, intricate shape of branches. Hoshino intentionally excluded the base of the tree to highlight the complicity of its upper half and allowed the pink backdrop to emphasize the delicate lines of frost.
“Although the scene depicts the freezing cold of winter, the warm [color] tones give it a gentle sense of warmth rather than loneliness,” Hoshino said in a statement.
