Close-up Photographer of the Year is open for entries

Published 5 years agoon March 11, 2021

The search is on to find the next winner of Close-up Photographer of the Year, in association with Affinity Photo. Photographers have until 23 May 2021 to enter the competition and be in with a chance of winning a cash prize of £2,500.

Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) is an annual competition showcasing the best close-up, macro and micro photography from around the world.

A new Underwater category (sponsored by SEACAM) has been added this year to reflect the quality of entries in this genre from previous years. Images of underwater flora and fauna will be accepted in this category and will be judged by diving legends David Doubilet, Jennifer Hayes, Darren Jew and Nadia Aly.

Galice Hoarau won the overall prize last year with his picture of an eel larva taken during a blackwater dive off the coast of Indonesia.

This year the total prize fund has been boosted to £5,300, with the overall winner receiving £2,500 in cash (plus a trophy) and each category winner taking home £300 in cash, with the exception of Young Close-up Photographer of the Year 03 who will receive a SIGMA 105mm f2.8 DG DN MACRO Art lens (worth £700) USB Dock (and a trophy).

The competition is open to everyone, using any type of camera, phone or light microscope. To find out more visit www.cupoty.com.

There are nine categories in all: Animals (supported by Affinity Photo), Insects (supported by Zerene Stacker), Butterflies & Dragonflies (new for 2021 and supported by Olympus), Underwater (new for 2021 and supported by Seacam), Plants & Fungi (supported by Novoflex and SpeedGraphic), Intimate Landscape, Manmade and Micro (supported by Motic), as well as Young CUPOTY (supported by SIGMA) for entrants aged 17 or under.

Last year the competition attracted more than 6,500 entries, from 52 countries. All of the winning and shortlisted entries for CUPOTY 02 can be seen at www.cupoty.com/winners-02.

Header Photo: © Mathieu Foulquie-Bufo bufo-CUPOTY

Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown

Nick and Caroline (Frogfish Photography) are a married couple of conservation driven underwater photo-journalists and authors. Both have honours degrees from Manchester University, in Environmental Biology and Biology respectively, with Nick being a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, a former high school science teacher with a DipEd in Teaching Studies. Caroline has an MSc in Animal Behaviour specializing in Caribbean Ecology. They are multiple award-winning photographers and along with 4 published books, feature regularly in the diving, wildlife and international press They are the Underwater Photography and Deputy Editors at Scubaverse and Dive Travel Adventures. Winners of the Caribbean Tourism Organization Photo-journalist of the Year for a feature on Shark Diving in The Bahamas, and they have been placed in every year they have entered. Nick and Caroline regularly use their free time to visit schools, both in the UK and on their travels, to discuss the important issues of marine conservation, sharks and plastic pollution. They are ambassadors for Sharks4Kids and founders of SeaStraw. They are Dive Ambassadors for The Islands of The Bahamas and are supported by Mares, Paralenz, Nauticam and Olympus. To find out more visit www.frogfishphotography.com