£2,500 top prize • 60+ shortlist places per category • Featured in The Guardian, BBC & 100+ media outlets
Please send your pictures by Sunday 19th July.
Wherever you are in the world, no matter the time zone.
Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) celebrates close-up, macro and micro photography through an annual international competition, themed challenges, newsletter and book.
CUPOTY 8 closed for entries on July 12th, 2026. Thank you to everyone who entered – we couldn’t do it without you.
CUPOTY 8 picture submission – Sunday 19th July 2026
CUPOTY 8 shortlist revealed – October 2026
Themed Challenge opens – 1 November 2026
Themed Challenge closes – 30 November 2026
CUPOTY 8 winners announced – January 2027
Themed Challenge shortlist revealed – March 2027
Themed Challenge winners announced – April 2027
CUPOTY 9 opens – May 2027
Close-up is the spirit of the competition, not its definition.
The finished image is the important thing, not the equipment that was used to take it – you don't have to use a macro lens to enter. If your image gives the viewer a feeling of being close to the subject, we’d love to see your work.
Here's the range of work CUPOTY celebrates beyond the close-up:
Small scene
The Intimate Landscape category welcomes the widest view in the contest, where small sections of the landscape can be entered as well as close details.
Sense of proximity
Images in Animals, Underwater and Plants do not have to be super-close, but the viewer should feel they could reach out and touch the subject.
Small subject in its habitat
Small subjects like insects, arachnids, fish, plants and fungi can be photographed in a wider context. Celebrating the overlooked is a key aim of CUPOTY.
Macro and extreme macro
The heart of CUPOTY, and welcomed across all the categories.
Photomicrograph
Microscope and objective work is accepted in any category except Underwater and Intimate Landscape.
Eleven categories celebrate close-up, macro and micro photography. Choose the one closest to the main subject of your picture. We double-check every picture goes into the right category before the judging starts.
Mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds – animals beyond the insect world.
Beetles, bees, ants, flies and other insects (except those in Butterflies & Dragonflies).
INVERTEBRATE PORTRAIT
Frame-filling shots of a single invertebrate.
ARACHNIDS
Spiders, scorpions, harvestmen and other arachnids.
BUTTERFLIES & DRAGONFLIES
Butterflies, moths, dragonflies and damselflies.
UNDERWATER
Subjects in fresh or salt water, submerged or split-level.
Flowers, moss, leaves, seeds, tree details – plants up close or in their wider habitat.
FUNGI & SLIME MOULDS
Mushrooms, toadstools, slime moulds and lichen.
INTIMATE LANDSCAPE
Small scenes, tight crops, or overlooked details of the natural or urban landscape.
STUDIO ART
Photographs made at home, in the studio, in the lab, or with creative post-processing. For example, botanical still lives, drop art, paper constructions, bubbles, microscopic crystals, photograms and scanner images.
YOUNG CUPOTY
Open to photographers aged 17 or under on 12th July 2026, with no restrictions on subject matter – if it’s close it counts!
+ The Macro Kit – £1,350 of prizes
+ Trophy
+ Digital certificate and badge
+ Featured in the CUPOTY 8 ebook
+ Digital certificate and badge
+ Featured in the CUPOTY 8 ebook
+ Trophy
+ Digital certificate and badge
+ Featured in the CUPOTY 8 ebook
Category winners, the Top 100 and shortlisted work have featured in 100+ media outlets worldwide.
Recent coverage:
Sign-up in 2 minutes.
Upload your pictures later, up to a week after the deadline.
Show your work to the world-class photographers, naturalists and editors that make-up our expert panel.
Alex Noriega
Alex is a full-time professional nature photographer and photography educator who roams the public lands of the American West in his RV. He has won the International Landscape POTY, USA Landscape POTY and Epson Pano Awards, as well as being widely published in international magazines. Alex teaches through workshops, critiques and tutorials available through his website.
Bart Somers
Bart Somers founded Insectguru on Instagram in 2016 with the idea of featuring daily photos and facts about Arthropods. After more than 4,000 posts and 463K followers, it's become one of the largest and most highly-respected macro hubs on the platform. As a nature enthusiast, Bart enjoys giving photographers a place to showcase their work, while showing people how beautiful and delicate nature is.
Chien C. Lee
With a background in ecology and environmental education, wildlife photographer Chien C. Lee has been based on the island of Borneo since 1996. He specializes in documenting the flora and fauna of rainforests, with a particular emphasis on species that exhibit extraordinary adaptations such as camouflage, mimicry, and interspecific mutualism. In addition to his photographic work, he is frequently engaged as a guide for specialist biological tours and film projects across Southeast Asia.
David Maitland
With a PhD in Zoology, nature photographer David combines art and academic research to produce stunning macro and super-macro images. He has been a full-time photographer since 2006, and won European Wildlife Photographer of the Year just two years later. David loves to capture intricate details of the creatures he encounters, and to celebrate the beauty and wonder of nature.
Georgina Steytler
Georgina is an Australian nature photographer with a passion for birds, ethics and conservation. After giving up her corporate job to pursue her passion in photography, she has spent over 10 years working to produce images for conservation organisations across Australia (for free), as well as teaching the art and ethics of bird photography through workshops, talks and articles. She has won numerous national and international awards and in November 2021 her book, For the Love of Birds, was published by Australian Geographic.
Guy Edwardes
Guy Edwardes has been a professional landscape and nature photographer for almost 30 years. As well as managing his own library of 250,000 images, Guy is the author of two books, including 100 Ways to Take Better Nature and Wildlife Photographs. He runs around thirty workshops a year, taking him to some of the world’s most spectacular landscape and wildlife locations, such as Costa Rica, Ecuador, Iceland, Africa and many countries in Europe.
Henley Spiers
Henley Spiers is an award-winning underwater photographer and storyteller who uses narrative-driven imagery to capture the wonder and vulnerability of the ocean. Henley has won prestigious awards including the HIPA Grand Prize and Ocean Fine Art Photographer of the Year. He is also the author of two books, Black is the New Blue Vol. II and Guide to Cebu.
Jaime Culebras
Spanish nature photographer Jaime lives in Ecuador where he also works as a reptile and amphibian researcher. He holds a Bachelor of Biology, an MSc in Environmental Education and an MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation of Tropical Areas as well as being awarded in World Press Photo, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and GDT European Wildlife POTY, among others. Through Photo Wildlife Tours, Jaime runs guided trips in Ecuador and South America.
@jaime_culebras
www.photowildlifetours.com
Jake Wilton
Jake Wilton is an Australian photographer specialising in underwater, wildlife, and travel imagery, with a focus on inspiring conservation of the natural world. Jake has won prestigious awards including Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year and Ocean Geographic Pictures of the Year. He is also a Nikon Australia creator and ambassador.
Jamie Hall
Jamie is a multi-award-winning and professional photographer originally from Hampshire, UK now living in Australia. Jamie is an accomplished photographer with expertise ranging from macro to underwater, long-lens to portraiture. Passionate about wildlife and nature, he shares his knowledge through collaborations, tutorials, podcasts, workshops and social media.
Karine Aigner
Karine spent nine years as Senior Picture Editor for National Geographic Kids magazine before starting her own freelance photography career. She won the 2022 Wildlife Photographer of the Year and is now an associate fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) and a member of Girls Who Click. She has been published in National Geographic, GEO, Nature Conservancy Magazine, WWF and BBC Wildlife magazines among others, and leads photographic tours across the globe.
Keith Wilson
Award-winning editor and photojournalist Keith Wilson has more than 30 years of experience in the publishing industry. Keith spent nine years as editor of Amateur Photographer, before launching Outdoor Photography, B+W Photography, and Wild Planet Photo magazines. He is a sought after editor of fine-art photography books, specialising in wildlife, landscape and the environment.
Picture credit: © Martin Hartley
Marit van Ekelenburg
Marit is a macro photographer from The Netherlands with over 1 million followers on Instagram and Facebook.. Marit’s goal is to turn fear into fascination by creating colourful portraits of invertebrates. She has written several books and articles on the subject and has exhibited widely. People from all over the world come to her mother’s garden where she hosts macro photography workshops.
Matt Doogue
Award-winning photographer Matt is a passionate conservationist, tour leader, public speaker, outreach teacher and mental health ambassador. His work has been published in most of the UK’s leading photographic titles, and regularly features on the BBC’s Springwatch shows. In his spare time he visits schools to educate children of all ages on the importance of our natural world.
Nigel Atherton
Nigel is the long-standing editor of Amateur Photographer magazine. After studying photography at Plymouth College of Art & Design and the University of Westminster he worked as a professional photographer before joining Amateur Photographer magazine in 1994. He was appointed Group Editor of the TI Media photography portfolio in 2013.
Piotr Naskrecki
Piotr Naskrecki is an entomologist, conservation biologist, and photographer with 30 years of experience in biodiversity research and exploration in both the academic environment and non-profit conservation organisations. Piotr has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers, several books, and numerous popular articles. He has discovered and described over 150 species new to science. Piotr’s images have been among the winners of major competitions, including Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Renee Grinnell Capozzola
Renee is an award-winning, conservation-minded underwater photographer and photojournalist specialising in wide angle and split-level images. She has won over 60 international accolades, including Underwater POTY 2021 and the Female Fifty Fathoms Award from Blancpain through the 2021 Ocean POTY. Her work has appeared worldwide in leading publications, and she is an Ocean Geographic Master Photographer, a fellow of The Explorers Club, and an Ambassador of SEACAM.
Ross Hoddinott
Natural history and landscape photographer Ross has been entering, and winning, photography competitions since he was 10, so he should know an award-winning picture when he sees one. He is a close-up specialist focusing on insects and wild plants, and has written numerous books on the subject. He also runs landscape photography workshops via Dawn 2 Dusk Photography.
Sarah Marino
Sarah Marino is a nature photographer, educator, writer and speaker. Sarah is also a co-founder of the Nature First Photography Alliance, promoting the conservation and stewardship of wild places through her photography and teaching. Sarah’s latest eBook is Beyond the Grand Landscape: Photographing Nature’s Small Scenes.
Sue Bishop
Sue specialises in flower photography. Her aim is to create an image that goes beyond a mere record of its subject and draws the viewer into the nature of the bloom. She has written three books about photography, and her work has been exhibited in London and around the UK. Sue is a lecturer, workshop leader, and co-founder of Light & Land, a company that organises photo holidays.
Tracy Calder
Photographer and writer Tracy is a co-founder of CUPOTY. She has worked on the editorial team of seven photography books, and is the author of Macro & Close-up Photography. Her work has been featured in more than 30 consumer magazines, and exhibited at The Photographers’ Gallery, Saatchi Gallery and The National Portrait Gallery in London. She is a former editor of Outdoor Photography magazine.
Viktoria Haack
Viktoria has a background in fine art and anthropology. This combined with her love for the natural world, brings a unique perspective to her photography. Her ethos is to tread lightly; observe and document the visual story within whichever genre she is working. Her work covers the fields of landscape, portrait, wedding, event, promotion, editorial, stock and photography education.
Wim van Egmond
Working in the limbo between art and science, Wim specialises in photomicrography and extreme macro. He often creates new tools and techniques to capture images beyond what the human eye can see. Wim is one of the most successful entrants of the prestigious Nikon Small World competition, having been recognised over 30 times and winning the contest twice.
