Take a closer look at the Close-up Photographer of the Year contenders

Entrant to the Close-up Photographer of the Year 6 competition.

About CUPOTY

(Image credit: Close-up Photographer of the Year logo)

Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) was founded in 2018 by Tracy and Dan Calder. It is the largest competition in the world dedicated to close-up, macro and micro photography.

“If your photos aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough,” proclaimed famed war photojournalist and Magnum Photos founder Robert Capa, before he got a little too close and was killed by stepping on a landmine in Vietnam in 1954 during the First Indochina War.

Still, those famous words are the ethos of the Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) competition. Now in its sixth year, the competition celebrates the images that showcase the very best in close-up, macro and micro photography.

A shortlist of images going forward to compete for the title of the Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) 2024 has been announced after 25 judges assessed 11,681 photographs across 11 categories to pick the selection of images that will compete for a place in the Top 100 pictures and from which the competition winners will be selected in January 2025.

It's a landscape but not as you know it – 'Desert and Forest' is an entrant to the Intimate Landscape category (Image credit: Minghui Yuan / Close-up Photographer of the Year)

There are 11 categories in the competition: Animals, Insects, Butterflies & Dragonflies, Arachnids, Invertebrate Portrait, Underwater, Intimate Landscape, Plants, Funghi, Studio Art, and Young – a category for under-18 photographers.

The winner of each category will take home a cash prize of £250 ($325/AU$500), as well as being in with the chance of scooping the £2,500 ($3,250/AU$5,000) cash top prize and overall winner's trophy. The Young Close-up Photographer of the Year will be awarded a Sigma 105mm f/2.8 DG DN Macro Art lens worth £700 ($900/AU$1400) in the mount of their choosing, along with a trophy.

This entrant to the Animals category is titled 'Tiny Host' – if you can't see why you need to look a little closer… (Image credit: Aloys Pichard / Close-up Photographer of the Year)

All category winners also receive a Universal License for all three Affinity apps (Photo, Designer + Publisher) for macOS, Windows & iPadOS. A Frames subscription will be awarded to the Intimate Landscape winner. Retouch4me Dust, Color Match and Portrait Volumes plug-ins will go to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the Studio Art category.

While it's too late to enter this year's main CUPOTY competition, the CUPOTY Challenge – a special themed contest from Close-up Photographer of the Year – has just opened with the theme of 'Something Beautiful'. It has a prize of £300 ($400/AU$600) and you have until November 30, 2024 to enter.

This 'Chicory' macro shot is a contender for the Plants category (Image credit: Johannes Kottonau / Close-up Photographer of the Year)

Getting your hands on one of the best macro lenses might help your chances!