Close-up Photographer of the Year 7

The winners of the seventh edition of the Close-up Photography of the Year (CUPOTY) contest have been announced. This year's competition drew more than 12,000 entries from 63 countries, with images revealing wonders of the world through macro, micro and close-up photography.

A jury of 22 expert photographers, naturalists and editors selected the winners. They collectively spent more than 20 hours on Zoom calls to make the winner selections and choose the Top 100 images. The contest includes 11 categories: Animals, Insects, Butterflies & Dragonflies, Arachnids, Invertebrate Portrait, Underwater, Plants, Fungi & Slime Moulds, Intimate Landscape, Studio Art, and Young Close-up Photographer of the Year (for entrants aged 17 or under).

"This was the toughest competition yet," says CUPOTY co-founder Tracy Calder. "The winning image embodies everything close-up photography can achieve – it shows us a perspective we've never seen before and reveals hidden beauty in a familiar subject. The judges were captivated."

You can see all of the winning and finalist images at the CUPOTY website.

Grand Prize

© Ross Gudgeon / CUPOTY

Name: Ross Gudgeon

Title: Fractal Forest

Category: Underwater

Place: 1st

Nationality: Australian

Picture details: The inside of a cauliflower soft coral in Lembeh Strait, Indonesia.

Caption: Named for its characteristic cauliflower-like appearance, this coral has numerous small, rounded, bump-like polyps that give it a puffy texture. This unique perspective was made possible by the Nauticam EMWL (Extended Macro Wide Lens), an underwater version of the probe or insect eye lens. Due to its long length, small diameter, close focus, and wide field of view, this lens allows for perspectives impossible with conventional lenses. I decided to experiment with the EMWL on the soft coral to capture a different view of a common life form. I carefully threaded the end of the EMWL through the branches of the soft coral so as not to damage them, creating an image looking from the inside out.

Technical information:

• Camera: Sony A7R IV
• Lens: Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• ISO: 400
• Aperture: F9
• Shutter speed: 1/100 sec
• Accessories: Nauticam EMWL with 160º objective lens and 2x Retra Pro flashes
• Post processing: DXO Pure Raw, Adobe Lightroom, Topaz Photo AI and Adobe Photoshop

Further information:

Instagram: @ross_gudgeon

Facebook: Ross Gudgeon

Animals - First Place

© Filippo Carugati / CUPOTY

Name: Filippo Carugati

Title: Amphibian Galaxy

Category: Animals

Place: 1st

Nationality: Italian

Picture details: A Malagasy frog (Guibemantis sp.) egg clutch hangs on a small trunk next to a pond in Maromizaha rainforest, Madagascar.

Caption: Conducting fieldwork during cyclone season gave me the opportunity to witness a wonderful natural spectacle: Malagasy frogs' mass reproduction. The Maromizaha rainforest, where I spent six months collecting data for my PhD thesis, hosts an outstanding richness of amphibians, with at least 74 endemic species. For many Malagasy frogs, reproduction peaks correspond with winter months, a period characterised by higher temperatures and intense rainfall. 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. In this shot, I documented a large egg clutch (20–30cm) hanging on a small 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 colourful mixture within the gelatine, which suggested a cosmic appearance.

Technical information:

• Camera: Canon EOS R7
• Lens: Canon EF100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM
• ISO: 800
• Aperture: F11
• Shutter speed: 1/200 sec
• Accessories: Remote-controlled flash (Canon Speedlight 430) with softbox
• Post processing: Photoshop Camera Raw

Further information:

Website: www.filippocarugatiphotographer.com

Instagram: @wildlais

Facebook: Filippo Carugati - Wildlife Photographer

Arachnids - First Place

© Artur Tomaszek / CUPOTY

Name: Artur Tomaszek

Title: Dinner

Category: Arachnids

Place: 1st

Nationality: Polish

Picture details: A lynx spider (Oxyopes sp.) feeds on a few termites in Hong Kong.

Caption: Lynx spiders are ambush predators that actively hunt prey by sight. Though they produce and use silk, they do not build webs to capture prey. I came across this one during a moth survey on a particularly memorable night. It had been a very hot spring with little rain, but that evening it suddenly started raining, prompting thousands of termites to begin their mating dance and swarm in the air. This provided an excellent opportunity for the lynx spider to make its catch of the night. 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.

Technical information:

• Camera: Canon EOS R5
• Lens: Laowa 100mm F2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO
• ISO: 320
• Aperture: F11
• Shutter speed: 1/160 sec
• Accessories: Cygnustech diffuser
• Post processing: Lightroom

Further information:

Website: www.arturtomaszek.com

Instagram: @artur.tomaszek.photo

Facebook: Inglourious Reptiles

Flickr: Artur Tomaszek

Butterflies - First Place

© Pål Hermansen / CUPOTY

Name: Pål Hermansen

Title: Butterfly Flash

Category: Butterflies & Dragonflies

Place: 1st

Nationality: Norwegian

Picture details: A Camberwell beauty (Nymphalis antiopa) flashes its wings to defend its feeding spot on a birch tree trunk in Follo, Norway.

Caption: The butterfly was sitting on a birch tree trunk, drawn by the leaking sap caused by an attack of goat moth (Cossus cossus) larvae. Some red admiral butterflies and wasps were also attracted to the sweet sap. When the wasps approached, the Camberwell beauty did not fly off, but instead defended the spot by suddenly flashing its wings several times. The other insects kept their distance, allowing it to spend sufficient time feeding undisturbed.

Technical information:

• Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M1X
• Lens: M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 PRO
• ISO: 125
• Aperture: F22
• Shutter speed: 1/3 sec
• Accessories: MC-20 (2x teleconverter)
• Post processing: Photoshop

Further information:

Website: www.palhermansen.com

Instagram: @hermansenpal

Fungi - First Place

© Valeria Zvereva / CUPOTY

Name: Valeria Zvereva

Title: Mushroom in the 'Nude' Style

Category: Fungi & Slime Moulds

Place: 1st

Nationality: Russian

Picture details: Fragment of the lower part of the cap of a lamellar mushroom in the Moscow region, Russia.

Caption: The lower part of the cap of a lamellar mushroom. After all, there is something of the "nude" style in this.

Technical information:

• Camera: Canon EOS R
• Lens: Canon MP-E 65mm F2.8 1-5x Macro
• ISO: 1600
• Aperture: F5.6
• Shutter speed: 1/2500 sec
• Accessories: Flash
• Post processing: Adobe Photoshop CS6

Further information:

Instagram: @zebrav1

Facebook: Valeriya Zvereva

Insects - First Place

© Imre Potyó / CUPOTY

Name: Imre Potyó

Title: Blue Army

Category: Insects

Place: 1st

Nationality: Hungarian

Picture details: Danube mayflies (Ephoron virgo) swarm in Szentendre, Hungary.

Caption: After a few decades, the spectacular endangered Danube mayfly has returned to the river Danube, probably due to increasing water quality after disappearing from the rivers of Middle Europe owing to water pollution. The summer of 2024 was memorable for fans of these mayflies, as the season — likely extended by dry, hot days and persistently low water levels — lasted nearly a month. On 25 occasions, we waded deep into the strong currents, surrounded and overwhelmed by the mayflies. A massive swarm numbering in the millions is approaching the illuminated city of Szentendre. The lights lure the mayflies out due to their positive phototaxis. During the late August festival, dense clouds of mayflies engulfed the restaurants, vendors, wine bars, and concerts, becoming an unmissable and alarming spectacle. The mayflies circled around the lights for a long time, unable to break free, and sadly perished on the asphalt. Such an evening can result in ecological damage worth billions, as mayflies writhing and drying on pavements, roads, and ledges perish along with the egg clusters that represent their offspring.

Technical information:

• Camera: Nikon D7200
• Lens: Nikkor AF DX Fisheye 10.5mm F2.8G ED
• ISO: 1250
• Aperture: F22
• Shutter speed: 10 sec
• Accessories: Tripod, KuangRen Macro Twin Flash, lights
• Post processing: Lightroom

Further information:

Instagram: @imrepotyo

Facebook: Imre Potyó

Intimate Landscape - First Place

© Sho Hoshino / CUPOTY

Name: Sho Hoshino

Title: Dreamy State

Category: Intimate Landscape

Place: 1st

Nationality: Japanese

Picture details: A tree covered with rime ice in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

Caption: I took this photograph when frost-covered trees stood before a mist that turned pink in the morning sunlight. The composition relies on soft, pale tones, anchored by the dark, intricate shape of the tree trunk and its distorted form. I intentionally excluded the base of the tree to highlight the complexity of its trunk. I also wanted to emphasise the special conditions of frost and mist, so I waited for the moment when the background turned pink. Although the scene depicts the freezing cold of winter, the warm colour tones give it a gentle sense of warmth rather than loneliness.

Technical information:

• Camera: Fujifilm GFX100S
• Lens: Fujinon GF 100-200mm F5.6 R LM OIS WR
• ISO: 400
• Aperture: F8
• Shutter speed: 0.6 sec
• Accessories: Tripod, CPL filter
• Post processing: Lightroom and Photoshop

Further information:

Website: www.shohoshinophotography.com

Instagram: @shocha_photography

Facebook: Shocha Photography

X: @shochacamera

YouTube: Shocha Photography

Invertebrate Portrait - First Place

© Laurent Hesemans / CUPOTY

Name: Laurent Hesemans

Title: Good Boy

Category: Invertebrate Portrait

Place: 1st

Nationality: Belgian

Picture details: A moth (Bombycidae sp.) in Tinamaste, Costa Rica.

Caption: A favourite quarry of many macro photographers, it is always a lovely opportunity to spend time with members of the Bombycid family. Incredibly photogenic, the large eyes and antenna positions of these moths, especially the males, always lend their portraits a somewhat melancholy feeling. They are a lesson in beautiful subtlety and a reminder to always give even the simplest arthropods and small creatures a second, closer look.

Technical information:

• Camera: Sony A7R V
• Lens: Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• ISO: 200
• Aperture: F8
• Shutter speed: 1/125 sec
• Accessories: Godox V860III flash, Cygnustech diffuser, Raynox DCR-250
• Post processing: Focus stack processed in Helicon Focus, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Topaz Sharpen

Further information:

Website: www.laurent-hesemans.com

Instagram: @Laurent_nam

Facebook: Laurent Hesemans

Plant - First Place

© Minghui Yuan / CUPOTY

Name: Minghui Yuan

Title: Rebirth from Destruction

Category: Plants

Place: 1st

Nationality: Chinese

Picture details: Decaying lotus leaves and floating fern (Salvinia natans) in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, China.

Caption: In a pond outside the tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna, I found these decaying lotus leaves floating on the dark water, their skeletal veins creating a delicate lacework of purple and green. Amongst them, bright clusters of floating fern had taken hold. 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.

Technical information:

• Camera: Fujifilm X-H2
• Lens: Fujinon XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR
• ISO: 200
• Aperture: F10
• Shutter speed: 1/42 sec
• Post processing: Photoshop

Studio Art - First Place

© Paul Kenny / CUPOTY

Name: Paul Kenny

Title: COPPER WORKS No.25 - 2024

Category: Studio Art

Place: 1st

Nationality: British

Picture details: A copper plate distressed and oxidised by everyday household materials.
Caption: Three years ago, at the age of 71 and after 35 years in rural/coastal tranquillity, my wife and I moved back into the centre of a big city. For 50 years, my work had been concentrated on creating visionary landscapes, constructed from insignificant scraps from the shoreline. My new environment conjured up memories of my upbringing in the post-Industrial Revolution Lowry-esque landscape of inner-city Salford. Over three years, a new body of work has emerged, but the fragments of flotsam and jetsam that formed the source of my medium have been replaced with the chemical fragments of common household materials — bleach, cleaners, gardening products, bathroom products. This image is made on a glass plate and captured with a scanner.

Technical information:

• Scanner: Epson Perfection V750 Pro scanner
• Scan time: 15 minutes
• Post processing: Photoshop Elements

Further information:

Website: www.paul-kenny.co.uk

Instagram: @jmarmaduke

Threads: @jmarmaduke

Young - First Place

© Rithved Girish / CUPOTY

Name: Rithved Girish

Title: Guardians of the Hive

Category: Young

Place: 1st

Nationality: Indian

Age: 14 years old

Picture details: Stingless bee (likely Tetragonula sp.) nest in Mezhathur, Kerala, India.
Caption: During my summer holiday in Kerala, India, I encountered a nest of stingless bees, likely from the Tetragonula family. Fascinated by the tiny wonders of nature, I make it a point to explore and learn more about the natural world whenever I visit India. These small yet remarkable bees had carefully built their home using wax, resin, and mud, creating a unique tube-shaped entrance to safeguard their colony. The guard bees at the entrance remained alert, ensuring the safety of their hive from potential threats. No bait or attractants were used whilst capturing this moment, allowing their natural behaviour to remain undisturbed. This image serves as a reminder of the vital role these tiny creatures play in maintaining ecological balance.

Technical information:

• Camera: Nikon D850
• Lens: Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG DN Macro Art
• ISO: 400
• Aperture: F11
• Shutter speed: 1/160 sec
• Accessories: Rollei Flash 58F, Radiant diffuser

Further information:

Instagram: @rithved.girish

Facebook: Rithved Girish

Image: Richard Butler

If you've recently picked up a new Nikon camera, you might be a bit overwhelmed about where to start setting it up. After all, camera menus can be hard to navigate, and the sheer number of settings options can be dizzying.

Some settings are universal, no matter your camera brand or preferred shooting style. We've already covered those in a separate article, so you may want to start there. This guide walks you through some of the Nikon‑specific settings worth changing on day one. The suggestions below are aimed at addressing the needs of most photographers; if you have a specific shooting style or preferred genre, there may be additional considerations. But below you'll find a good starting point for setting up your camera.

Basic Nikon behaviors

If you're new to Nikon, there is a key quirk you might want to be aware of: that nothing is selected until you've pressed the OK button. It's very easy to navigate to a menu parameter, think you've selected the option you want, and then hit Menu or half-press the shutter to exit, only to discover that nothing's changed. Get into the habit of assertive confirmation.

This option won't be in the same exact position on every Nikon model, but it should be located in the purple Controls section.

Another behavior that may be unfamiliar, if you've come from other brands, is that you need to hold buttons such as WB or Exposure Comp down while you turn the command dial. If you want to just press once, rather than having to hold the button down, you need to change the "Release Button to Use Dial' option in section 'f' of the Custom Settings menu.

Engaging and controlling Auto ISO

Auto ISO is typically On by default on most Nikon Z-mount cameras. However, there are points worth being aware of. If your camera has a dedicated ISO button, or you've defined a custom button to control ISO, you can hold that button down and turn one of the command dials to toggle Auto ISO on and off.

However, be aware that the other dial will define the minimum ISO that the camera will use, which risks limiting the maximum image quality available. If you are finding that the Auto ISO system isn't using as fast a shutter speed as you'd like, it's better to go into the Photo Shooting menu and adjust the "Minimum Shutter Speed" setting under "ISO sensitivity settings."

Easy Exposure Compensation

Easy Exposure Comp makes one of your command dials act as exposure comp without having to press a button. If you ever shoot in A or S mode, you should set this to 'On.' Screengrab: Mitchell Clark

Nikon cameras offer an "Easy Exposure Compensation" setting that lets you customize how you dial in exposure compensation (EC).

By default, this is set to off, which means that you have to hold the ± button while turning a command dial to change EC. However, when you use P, S and A modes, you’ll have a command dial that isn’t being used. By changing to "On (auto reset)" or just "On," you'll be able to use the free dial to quickly change the EC setting without pressing a button at the same time. The auto reset option simply means that the camera will reset the EC to zero when you power off or the standby timer times out.

Choosing a Raw mode

In our article on general settings to change on any camera, we suggested enabling Raw files for greater flexibility when editing your images. But with Nikon cameras, you’re also asked to choose a type of Raw file (NEFs on Nikon cameras), which can get confusing.

On the first two generations of Z-mount camera, you'll have the option to choose 12‑bit or 14‑bit Raw. Full-frame models also let you chose a compression method: Uncompressed, Lossless Compressed or Compressed (often referred to as lossy compressed). Without getting too deep into the technical details, Lossless Compressed uses reversible compression. You get the benefit of smaller files, but you can restore the image for full editing capability. 12-bit mode makes the files still smaller and lets you capture more images during burst shooting, with very little impact unless you're shooting at low ISOs and really pushing the Raws.

Cameras that with Expeed 7 branded processing offer the newer TicoRaw-based HE* and HE

On cameras newer than the Z9 (those using Expeed 7 generation processing), you instead get the choice of Lossless Compression, High Efficiency* or High Efficiency (HE) compression. You no longer have to decide the bit-depth the camera uses. The Lossless compression is the same as on the older cameras, whereas the two HE options use a more modern, more effective compression system.

If you have one of the older cameras, we'd generally suggest shooting 12-bit Raw with Lossless Compression, if you're given the choice. The only exception would be if you're shooting ISO 64 on a Z7 or Z7 II and really pushing the Raws to make full use of their dynamic range.

We've been impressed with our experiences with HE* compression on the newer cameras.

Engaging Raw shooting

Don't forget to tell your camera to actually shoot in Raw after choosing your Raw settings; it's easy to do.

While both older and newer Nikon cameras have menu options to define what type of Raw file they capture, it's important to recognize that they don't actually make use of this setting until you select Raw or Raw+ from the "Image Quality" setting, further up the Photo Shooting menu.

Sensor shield

The Z9 and Z8, which always use electronic shutter mode, have a carbon "sensor shield" that can be used to keep dust off the sensor, without having to worry so much about damaging delicate, fragile shutter blades. Photo: DPReview

The Nikon Z8 and Z9 both offer an option to enable a "sensor shield" when the camera is powered off. It helps reduce the amount of dust and debris that can land directly on the sensor during lens changes. We'd suggest setting "Sensor Shield Behavior at Power Off" to "Sensor shield closes." In the setup menus.

This option is not available in other Nikon cameras because they do not have carbon blades that can be used to prevent dust ingress. Instead, they have mechanical shutter blades which are much easier to damage than the sensor is.

We'd suggest being wary of dust with most Nikon cameras and being careful not to touch the sensor shield if you have a Z8 or Z9.

Shutter angle

If you have a higher-end camera, you'll be able to change the Shutter Mode in the Video ('g') Custom Settings menu.

Shutter angle is a feature specific to videographers, so if you're not shooting video, there's no need to worry about this one. But, especially if you plan to shoot video at different frame rates, expressing the exposure time in terms of shutter angle can be really handy.

This setting only affects video shooting and is currently only available on the ZR, Z6III, Z8 and Z9.

AF-F

One Nikon-specific quirk to be aware of is that the mode that continuously refocuses during video capture is called AF-F (fulltime AF) on Nikon cameras, rather than some variety of continuous autofocus, as is more commonly the case. This is because Nikon also has an AF-C mode that acts like the same mode in stills shooting: only re-focusing when you're pressing a button to tell the camera to do so.

Specifying different settings for video

By default, certain settings such as White Balance and Picture Control will carry over from stills to video mode. However, you can choose different settings by going into the "Video Shooting" menu and changing the setting to something other than "Same as Photo Setting." This makes it easier to switch back and forth between stills and video shooting without accidentally carrying your settings across.

Customize your camera for your needs

Depending on your camera model, several buttons and button/dial combinations can be separately configured for stills shooting, video and playback modes.

If you want to go beyond these basics, you can configure custom buttons the the "Custom Controls" option(s) the 'f' section of the Custom Settings menu. You can customize buttons for video use in "Custom Controls" in section 'g.'

The i menu can be configured to give you semi-fast access to the settings you regularly change, and can be configured separately for stills and video

It's a similar story if you wish to change which options appear in the i quick menu, these are also configured at the top of section 'f' for photo mode and section 'g' for video mode.

The above options are Nikon-specific items that apply to most users, regardless of their specific niche. However, it's also not an exhaustive list. If you have other settings that you change as soon as you purchase a new (or new to you) Nikon camera, share them in the comments.