The prestigious Close-Up Photographer of the Year Awards for 2026 have unveiled their winners, celebrating the finest in micro and macro photography from across the globe. This annual competition, dedicated to capturing the intricate details of animals, insects, flora, and fauna, attracted a staggering 12,000 entries from 63 countries, highlighting the universal appeal of close-up imagery.
Overall Champion: An Underwater Marvel
Ross Gudgeon, an underwater photographer, clinched the top prize with his breathtaking image titled Fractal Forest. This winning shot captures the mesmerizing interior of a cauliflower soft coral, photographed in the Lembeh Strait of Indonesia. Gudgeon's triumph underscores the competition's commitment to showcasing diverse and often unseen perspectives in nature photography.
Category Highlights and Notable Entries
The awards featured a wide array of categories, each highlighting unique aspects of close-up photography. In the Underwater section, second place was awarded to Daniel Sly for Ethereal Frogfish, a striking image of an orange painted frogfish on the black volcanic sands of Indonesia's Lembeh Strait.
Other standout winners include:
- Intimate Landscape: Mike Weinhold's photograph of a fallen pine tree branch in Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro State Forest, Massachusetts, US.
- Invertebrate Portrait: Laurent Hesemans' first-place image of a moth in Tinamaste, Costa Rica, titled Good Boy.
- Young Photographer: Jameson Hawkins-Kimmel's Emerald Glow, featuring a brilliant green Cuban tree frog in a Florida backyard.
Global Diversity in Photography
The competition showcased entries from various regions, emphasizing the global reach of close-up photography. Notable submissions included:
- André Abbenhaus' image of Alpine choughs in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland.
- Barry Webb's photograph of 1.5mm tall Cribraria rufa slime moulds in ancient woodland, south Buckinghamshire, England.
- Imre Potyó's shot of Danube mayflies swarming in Szentendre, Hungary.
- Cédric Rousseau's Twilight of the Gods, depicting fungi on the forest floor in northern France.
These images not only highlight technical skill but also the artistic vision required to reveal the hidden beauty in everyday natural scenes. From Andre Johnson's juvenile sharpear enope squid off Florida to Dmitrii Melgunov's damselfly in Russia, the awards celebrate a rich tapestry of life captured through the lens.
The Close-Up Photographer of the Year Awards 2026 continue to inspire photographers and enthusiasts alike, pushing the boundaries of what can be seen and appreciated in the natural world. With such a diverse and high-quality pool of entries, the competition sets a new standard for excellence in close-up photography, encouraging future generations to explore and document the minute wonders around us.
