An underwater photograph taken inside a cauliflower soft coral has won the overall prize at Close-up Photographer of the Year 7, earning Australian photographer Ross Gudgeon the title and a £2,500 award.
Gudgeon’s image, Fractal Forest, was photographed in the Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, and was selected from more than 12,000 entries submitted by photographers from 63 countries.
The photograph was captured using an underwater probe lens, enabling Gudgeon to photograph from within the coral itself and present an unfamiliar perspective on a common marine organism.
A portrait of an orange painted frogfish by Daniel Sly and a crinoid shrimp in a feather star placed second and third in the underwater category.
Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) is an international competition focused on macro, micro and close-up imagery.
The seventh edition featured 11 categories, with winning images ranging from frog spawn resembling a galaxy and a swarm of mayflies approaching a Hungarian town, to an ice-covered tree in Japan and abstract imagery created by oxidising a copper plate.
The judging panel comprised 22 photographers, naturalists and editors, who spent more than 20 hours reviewing submissions and selecting the winners and Top 100 images.
CUPOTY co-founder Tracy Calder said the standard of entries made judging particularly challenging.
‘This was the toughest competition yet,’ she said. ‘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.’
For the complete list of winners head to www.cupoty.com/winners-7
First place, CUPOTY Underwater category
Ross Gudgeon (Australia) – Fractal Forest
The Story: 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.’
Location: Lembeh Strait, Indonesia
Shot with: Sony A7R IV and Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS at ISO 400, f/9, 1/100 sec, Nauticam EMWL with 160º objective lens and two Retra Pro flashes
Post-processing: DXO Pure Raw, Adobe Lightroom, Topaz Photo AI and Adobe Photoshop
Instagram: @ross_gudgeon
Facebook: Ross Gudgeon
Second place, CUPOTY Underwater category
Daniel Sly (Australia) – Ethereal Frogfish
Picture details: An orange painted frogfish (Antennarius pictus) on the black volcanic sands of Lembeh Strait, Indonesia.
The Story: ‘An orange painted frogfish waits motionless on the black volcanic sands of Indonesia’s Lembeh Strait, perfectly disguised as it prepares to ambush unsuspecting prey.
This image captures the unusual stillness of these masters of camouflage, predators that rely on patience rather than speed. To highlight the frogfish against the dark seabed, I used a narrow beam of light, combined with a slow shutter speed and intentional rotational movement of the camera.
This technique allowed the blue ambient water to bleed into the frame and created the ethereal swirl of the surrounding sand substrate, turning a moment of complete stillness into something otherworldly.’
Location: Lembeh Strait, Indonesia
Shot with: Nikon Z8 and Nikkor AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED at ISO 100, f/22, 1/2 sec, Nauticam NA-Z8 housing and a single Retra Pro Max strobe with attached Retra light-shaping device
Post-processing: Adobe Lightroom
Website: www.danielslyunderwater.com
Instagram: @daniel.sly
Third place, CUPOTY Underwater category
Luis Arpa – Featherhome
Picture details: A crinoid shrimp (Laomenes amboinensis) photographed in Tulamben, Bali.
The Story: ‘I’ve always been fascinated by the smallest creatures of the reef, those that most divers overlook. For a long time, I wanted to photograph these tiny critters from their own perspective, to show what their miniature world might look like if you were right there with them.
In Tulamben, Bali, whilst exploring feather stars, I came across this crinoid shrimp. Perfectly camouflaged in both colour and pattern, it clung tightly to its host, spending most of its time motionless, relying on the feather star for protection and food drifting in the current.
With the help of a ‘bug-eye’ wet lens, I was able to get very close and still keep most of the crinoid in frame. That unusual perspective gave exactly the feeling I was hoping for, a view that pulls you inside the shrimp’s fragile, hidden world, where beauty and survival depend entirely on blending in.’
Location: Tulamben, Bali
Shot with: Nikon Z7 and Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 VR at ISO 200, f/11, 1/50 sec, Nauticam EMWL 160 and two SUPE D-Pro strobes
Post-processing: Lightroom and Photoshop
Instagram: @luis.arpa.photo
Facebook: Luis Arpa
For the complete list of winners head to www.cupoty.com/winners-7
