The winners of this year's Close-up Photographer of the Year have been announced, with the photographer Ross Gudgeon scooping the top prize with their entry 'Fractal Forest', showing cauliflower soft coral in exquisite detail.
Named for its characteristic cauliflower-like appearance, this species of coral has numerous small, bump-like polyps that give it a distinctive texture.
The international competition attracted more than 12,000 entries from 63 countries, skillfully judged by 22 expert photographers, naturalists and editors who selected winners and the Top 100 images spanning across 11 categories.
Co-founder Tracy Calder noted: "This was the toughest competition yet. 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."
The Close-up Photographer of the Year is an international competition dedicated to revealing the hidden wonders of the world through macro, micro and close-up imaging.
Here are the winners and some of our favourites from this year's competition.
Emerald Glow – Third place, young photographer category
A Cuban tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) in the photographer's backyard, Florida, USA. Photo by Jameson Hawkins-Kimmel/CUPOTY
The coast is a constant source of inspiration when it comes to photography. The ever-changing light and the way tides and weather affect a location mean you can return to the same places again and again. At the end of the year, smaller yachts are lifted out of the water to be cleaned and overwintered up on the harbour walls, revealing their barnacle and kelp-encrusted hulls. Photographed at Gairloch Harbour, Scotland, United Kingdom. Photo by Grant Bulloch/CUPOTY
Butterfly Flash – First place, butterflies category
A Camberwell beauty (Nymphalis antiopa), flashing wings to frighten rivals. Photographed in Akershus, Norway. Photo by Pål Hermansen/CUPOTY
Gotcha! – Third place, insects category
Reflections of reeds and a water bug as it moves through water, photographed in Bolshoye Krasnoperskoye Lake, Leningrad Region, Russia. Photo by Aleksey Molchanov/CUPOTY
Amphibian Galaxy – First place, animals category
A Malagasy frog (Guibemantis sp.) egg clutch hangs on a small trunk next to a pond in the Maromizaha rainforest, Madagascar. Photo by Filippo Carugati/CUPOTY
A marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) leaps into the air just as a barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) flies past to drink from a garden pond in Kiskunság National Park, Hungary. Photo by Bence Máté/CUPOTY
Guardians of the Hive – First place, young category
Stingless bee (likely Tetragonula sp.) nest in Mezhathur, Kerala, India. Photo by Rithved Girish/CUPOTY
Mushroom in the 'Nude' Style – First place, fungi category
Fragment of the lower part of the cap of a lamellar mushroom in the Moscow region, Russia. Photo by Valeria Zvereva/CUPOTY
Fake Sun – Third place, invertebrate portrait category
A solitary bee (Amegilla sp.) sleeps on a dry stem at night in Fiano Romano, Italy. Photo by Giovanni Vicari/CUPOTY
Love Under the Stars – Second place, insects category
Two mosquitoes (Limoniidae) mating on a fallen tree in the Moscow region, Russia. Photo by Valeria Zvereva/CUPOTY
Dreamy State – First place, intimate landscape category
A tree covered with rime ice in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Photo by Sho Hoshino/CUPOTY
Blue Army – First place, insects category
Danube mayflies (Ephoron virgo) swarm in Szentendre, Hungary. Photo by Imre Potyó/CUPOTY
Featherhome – Third place, underwater category
A crinoid shrimp (Laomenes amboinensis) photographed in Tulamben, Bali. Photo by Luis Arpa/CUPOTY
The Lady of the Woods – Finalist, animals category
An asp viper (Vipera aspis) in a larch forest in Mont Avic Nature Park, Aosta Valley, Italy. Photo by Lorenzo Shoubridge/CUPOTY
A lynx spider (Oxyopes sp.) feeds on a few termites in Hong Kong. Photo by Artur Tomaszek/CUPOTY
Ethereal Frogfish – Second place, underwater category
An orange painted frogfish (Antennarius pictus) on the black volcanic sands of Lembeh Strait, Indonesia. Photo by Daniel Sly/CUPOTY
Good Boy – First place, invertebrates category
A moth (Bombycidae sp.) in Tinamaste, Costa Rica. Photo by Laurent Hesemans/CUPOTY
Spider Web – Third place, animals category
A Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) approaches a spider's web in Kiskunság National Park, Hungary. Photo by Bence Máté/CUPOTY
I Feel I'm Being Watched – Second place, arachnids category
A whip spider (Amblypygi sp.) observes an explorer from a cave wall in the municipality of Ouanary, French Guiana. Photo by Guillaume Correa Pimpao/CUPOTY
In Mother's Arms – Finalist, animals category
A baby brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus) sleeps in its mother's embrace during a rainstorm at La Selva Biological Research Station, Costa Rica. Photo by Dvir Barkay/CUPOTY
Fractal Forest – First place, underwater category and overall winner
The inside of a cauliflower soft coral in Lembeh Strait, Indonesia. Photo by Ross Gudgeon/CUPOTY
Group visual editor for BBC Countryfile, BBC Wildlife and BBC Science Focus
James Cutmore is the group visual editor for BBC Countryfile, BBC Wildlife and BBC Science Focus Magazine. He has worked as a picture editor for over two decades, telling compelling science and nature stories through the use of striking imagery.
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