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Overall winner & Underwater winner: “Fractal Forest” by Ross Gudgeon
 

The winners and finalists of Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) have been announced. The seventh edition of the competition attracted over 12,000 entries from 63 countries, and a jury of 22 photographers, naturalists and editors selected winners and runners-up in 11 categories.

Australian shooter Ross Gudgeon bagged the top prize with his winner in the Underwater category—a mind-blowing inside-out view of a cauliflower soft coral captured with the Nauticam EMWL (with 160º objective lens) in the Lembeh Strait. If “Fractal Forest” seems familiar, that’s because the picture was the overall winner in the 2025 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year, announced in August last year. (CUPOTY has no restrictions on submitting images that have won in other competitions.)

There were lots more outstanding images in the Underwater category. Daniel Sly, another Aussie photographing in the Lembeh Strait, clinched second place with a slow-shutter capture of an orange painted frogfish, while Spanish shooter Luis Arpa scored third with his crinoid shrimp ingeniously hidden within its feather star home—which was also shot with the EMWL. The finalists in the category were Chris Gug, Richard Condlyffe, Ross Gudgeon, Gabriel Jensen, Simon Biddie, Andre Johnson, and Lilian Koh.

For more breathtaking images from Close-up Photographer of the Year 7, check out the gallery at www.cupoty.com. Congratulations to all the winners and runners-up.
 

Underwater 2nd place: “Ethereal Frogfish” by Daniel Sly
 

Underwater 3rd place: “Featherhome” by Luis Arpa
 

Underwater Finalist: “Fully Loaded” by Chris Gug
 

Underwater Finalist: “Ladybug Amphipod” by Richard Condlyffe
 

Underwater Finalist: “Baby-Sitting” by Ross Gudgeon