See 15 Winning Images From the Close-Up Photographer of the Year Competition

Sarah Kuta

Daily Correspondent

Beetles battling for mating rights, a bear stalking through the rainforest and a damselfly perched in front of a waterfall are just some of the many scenes that wowed judges during the annual Close-up Photographer of the Year contest.

Now in its sixth year, the competition recognizes photographers who excel at “revealing the hidden wonder of the world through close-up, macro and micro photography,” according to a statement shared with Smithsonian magazine. The 2025 contest included more than 11,000 submissions from 61 countries, which a panel of judges carefully reviewed to determine the winners and the top 100 images.

The jury, made up of 25 photographers, scientists, journalists and editors, spent more than 20 hours on video calls sifting through the entries. In the end, they awarded first, second and third place in 11 categories—ranging from insects to animals to underwater shots. They also named six to eight finalists for each category.

All the winning images are published on the competition’s website, as well as in an accompanying eBook.

“Every year, I’m blown away by the caliber of entries,” Tracy Calder, who co-founded the contest with her husband, Dan Calder, in 2018, says in the statement. “Close-up photography is a celebration of curiosity, and this year’s top 100 is a true testament to the artistry of everyone involved as well as an invitation to look, marvel at and honor the world around us.”

Here’s a look at some of this year’s best shots.

Clash of the Titans by Svetlana Ivanenko

Russian photographer Svetlana Ivanenko impressed the judges with her striking photo of two male stag beetles (Lucanus cervus) duking it out for mating rights in an oak forest. Ivanenko traveled more than 430 miles to the Voronezh region of Russia to capture the “beautiful event,” she says in a statement.

And after capturing that moment, “I want to share it with everyone,” she adds.

As this year’s Close-up Photographer of the Year, Ivanenko gets a $3,000 cash prize, a trophy and a universal license for several photo editing and design apps. The same image also took first place in the insects category.

God in the Shadows by Santiago J. Monroy García

Santiago J. Monroy García, a Colombian photographer, earned first place in the animals category for his dramatic photo of an Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) walking through the dense foliage of a highland rainforest.

He traveled to Ecopalacio Nature Reserve—located about 20 miles outside Bogotá—to see if he could get a shot of a well-known bear nicknamed “Nariz de Calavera,” or Skull Nose. The individual is one of the largest bears in the area, and its species is the only bear native to South America.

The photographer set up a motion-triggered camera so as not to disturb the reserve’s wildlife. Finally, in November 2023, his trail camera captured the image he had been envisioning, without the use of bait.

“I wanted to capture the bear behaving naturally in its environment, seeking an intimate picture that showcased the unique ecosystem as though it were part of a dream,” he says in a statement. “Fortuitously, the rain had splashed the lens in just the right spots, creating brushstrokes and textures that immerse the viewer in the humidity and cold of the highland Andean forests of Colombia.”

Queen of Hearts by Pierluigi Rizzo

Italian photographer Pierluigi Rizzo merged two photos of a female Mediterranean black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) to create the winning shot in the arachnids category. He saw the spider feeding on its prey at Pollino National Park in Calabria, Italy.

“In the first photo, I shot the spider’s abdomen to emphasize the spider’s characteristic red spots,” he says in a statement. “In the second photo, I wanted to capture the moment of feeding, so I placed a flash with a blue gel behind the spider to obtain its silhouette. The two photos were merged in-camera.”

Damselfly by the Waterfall by Yong Miao

A damselfly (Archineura incarnata) perches peacefully on a rock in front of a roaring waterfall in Chinese photographer Yong Miao’s image, which won the butterflies and dragonflies category of the contest. Taken at Tianmushan Nature Reserve in Zhejiang Province, China, the photo captures a moment when “time seemed to stand still,” Miao says.

“Its head was lowered to the surface of the water, as if appreciating its own reflection,” he says in a statement. “Any slight disturbance would make it fly away, so I immersed my body in the water and cautiously crawled towards it. From a distance of about [6.5 feet], I firmly set my camera and captured this precious scene.”

Bark is Worse than its Bite by Aran Gibbs

Irish photographer Aran Gibbs was taking a long evening hike up a mountain near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when he spotted a Caerostris spider, also known as a bark spider, resting on a stick. Using his backpack for extra stability, he steadied his camera and snapped this charming photo, which won the invertebrate portrait category.

Everything’s A-OK by Gabriel Jensen

Even on difficult days, American photographer Gabriel Jensen believes that everything will turn out just fine. He reminds himself to feel this way with this photo, which sits on his desk at work and depicts a “comically calm” doctorfish (Acanthurus chirurgus) in the jaws of a lizardfish (Synodus foetens) in Kona, Hawaii, he says in a statement.

Using its splayed pectoral and dorsal spines to fight back, the doctorfish eventually escaped—but not before Jensen managed to get the winning shot in the underwater category.

Mosses by Piet Haaksma

Many people would have strolled right on past a bit of garden moss covered in dew drops—but not Dutch photographer Piet Haaksma. After a foggy, early spring night in Sneek, the Netherlands, he was so moved by the dreamy scene that he got out his camera and started shooting. His resulting image—composed of two combined shots and adjusted to achieve a blue color—won this year’s plants category.

Ear-Pick Fungus by Barry Webb

British photographer Barry Webb won this year’s fungi and slime molds category with his shot of a half-inch-tall ear-pick fungus (Auriscalpium vulgare) growing on a pine cone in southern England.

“Auriscalpium vulgare grows on pine cones and has an eccentric stem attached to one side of the cap, with unusual and distinctive downward-pointing, teeth-like gills,” he says in a statement.

Webb was also a category winner for his fungus photos in the Close-up Photographer of the Year contest several times in the past.

A Network of Life and Death by Jean-Philippe Delobelle

Female bark beetles lay their eggs beneath the bark of trees. When these eggs hatch, the larvae begin to carve tunnels under the bark—and the tunnels get larger and larger as the larvae grow. French photographer Jean-Philippe Delobelle spotted one such network of tunnels under the bark of a spruce tree in the French Alps and decided to take a photo. His image won the intimate landscape category.

The intricate tunnels are “a symbol of life for the larva and death for the tree,” he says in a statement.

Spring by Andres Luis Dominguez Blanco

Andres Luis Dominguez Blanco may be just 14 years old, but already, the Spanish teen understands how to compose a compelling photo. Blanco’s shot of a colorful European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) in mid-flight with an insect in its beak won this year’s young photographer category.

“Having previously observed bee-eaters with binoculars, I knew exactly where they would fly after hunting insects,” he says in a statement. “This allowed me to strategically place a hide so that I could get a low point of view to blur the foreground and background flowers in the picture. I spent several weekend mornings in the hide, watching each bird catch 15-20 insects per hour, which provided ample opportunities for me to capture some attractive images.”

Artificial Landscape by Rob Blanken

Viewed closely through a microscope, a combination of crystallized amino acids captured by photographer Rob Blanken of the Netherlands evokes a “fantastical landscape,” according to a statement.

To set up this shot, which took first place in the studio art category, Blanken mixed two amino acids with water and ethanol. Then, he heated the solution on a microscope slide. “Over time, the crystals form on the slide and can be made visible with the help of polarization filters,” he adds. “I create these images because of the fascinating shapes, colors and endless variations they offer.”

Runners-up: mushrooms, kelp and giant sequoias