The Best Close-Up Photography Of 2025 In 21 Photos

Discovering the hidden beauty of nature up close, the Close Up Photography 2025 competition (CUPOTY) celebrates the most extraordinary details of our planet — from a bat’s high-speed belly-dip into a pond to the delicate structure of a spider’s web. This year’s shortlisted selection features the best close-up, micro and macro photos chosen from 11,681 entries across 11 categories.

Now in its seventh year, CUPOTY has grown into the world’s leading competition dedicated entirely to macro, micro, and close-up photography. Founded in 2018 by photojournalists Tracy and Dan Calder, the contest encourages photographers to slow down, observe the small wonders around them and forge deeper connections with nature.

ForbesThe Secrets Of Nature: 20 Winners Of Close-Up Photographer Of The YearBy Cecilia Rodriguez

Revealing the details most people overlook, the shortlist, according to the organizers, “provides the ultimate showcase of close-up photography, from which the Top 100 pictures and winners will be announced in January, 2025.”

The top photographer will receive a £2,500 grand prize, while each category winner earns £250 and a coveted CUPOTY trophy.

The 11 galleries include: Animals (supported by Affinity Photo), Insects (supported by Nikon), Butterflies and Dragonflies, Arachnids, Invertebrate Portrait, Underwater, Intimate Landscape, Plants, Fungi, Studio Art and Young Photographer.

Forbes‘Something Beautiful’: 18 Winners Of Close-Up Photographer ContestsBy Cecilia Rodriguez

The Grey-headed Flying Fox in the photo above, shortlisted in the Animals category, takes a high-speed belly dip in a pool of water at Myuna Wetlands, Australia — a rare sight that highlights this species’ vital role in forest ecosystems. Known as “night gardeners” they assist over 100 plant species by helping seed dispersal and pollination.

This keystone species is currently listed as vulnerable to extinction due to the ongoing threats they face due to habitat loss and climate change.

The Top 100 category winners will be unveiled in January, 2025, while CUPOTY 8 opens for entries in May, 2026.

Close-Up Photography: Animals

The image of the brown hare was taken during the morning after a wet start in Havergate Island in Suffolk, England. The weather conditions brought out the colors, textures and striking features of the hare, including the raindrops on its fur.

Every week in French Guiana, Guillaume Correa camps out on the edge of small forest creeks to photograph amphibians. When night comes, the songs guide his steps and that’s how he finds glass frogs. “They are so discreet that they disappear as soon as the light returns,” he says. Following a timid whistling, he was able to discover this one, the green of its skin blending perfectly with that of its perch.

Close-Up Photography: Spiders And Butterflies

More Invertebrates Portraits

A sand wasp pokes its head out its sand burrow on a rainy day in the dunes at Benar Beach in Wales.

An Acorn weevil sits rakishly on a dandelion flower. The weevil was inside the flower, enjoying the pollen.

Underwater Close-Up Photographer

A Bargibant’s pygmy seahorse camouflages on a Gorgonian Sea Fan at the Lembeh Strait, Indonesia.

Porcelain Crab are a type of small, decapod crustacean often found living in association with various marine organisms, including sea pens like the ones shown here in Mabini, Batangas, Philippines.

They’re known for their hard, smooth exoskeletons, which can resemble porcelain, and their ability to thrive in close symbiosis with specific types of corals and other invertebrates.

Close-Up Photography of Plants and Landscapes

This is a fairly high level of magnification for a macro shot of a single rose thorn. The larger thorn is less than a half-inch high. Together, they create a slightly surreal and alien landscape where rose thorns can be mountain peaks (if not Hershey Kisses).

All the shortlisted images from the Close Up Photography 2025 competition’s 11 categories can be seen here. Entries for the CUPOTY 8 competition will open in May 2026.

MORE FROM FORBES

ForbesWildlife Photographer Of The Year 2025: 18 Winning Photos From London’s Natural History MuseumBy Cecilia RodriguezForbesWinter In Europe: Top 10 Fairy-Tale European Christmas Markets, Per New SurveyBy Cecilia RodriguezForbesFunny Animal Photos: 18 Finalists For Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2025By Cecilia Rodriguez