The winners of this year's Close-up Photographer of the Year have just been announced. The overall winner was an amazing image of two stag beetles in silhouette, appropriately called 'Clash of the Titans', photographed by Svetlana Ivanenko.
Each year, stag beetles engage in intense battles for mating rights, and the image masterfully captures the drama of such a clash between two males in a strikingly atmospheric shot.
Andrés Luis Dominguez Blanco from Spain was crowned Young Close-up Photographer of the Year 2025 with his vivid picture of a European bee-eater in mid-flight with an insect in its beak.
Other highlights include a striking image of an Andean bear emerging from a rainforest, captured by a camera trap.
Insects category – winner
Two stag beetles (Lucanus cervus) battle for dominance in the Voronezh region of Russia. Photo by Svetlana Ivanenko/CUPOTY
Butterflies and dragonflies category – winner
A damselfly (Archineura incarnata) rests on a rock amidst a flowing waterfall in Tianmushan Nature Reserve, Zhejiang Province, China. Photo by Yong Miao/CUPOTY
Invertebrate portrait category – third place
A lynx spider (Oxyopidae) on a yellow flower in a garden in Austria. Photo by Manfred Auer/CUPOTY
Underwater category – runner-up
A leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques) swims with a school of rough bullseye fish (Pempheris klunzingeri) in Rapid Bay, South Australia. Photo by Jenny Stock/CUPOTY
Young photographer category – winner
A European bee-eater in mid-flight with an insect in its beak. Photographed in Southern Spain at the end of spring 2023. Photo by Andrés Luis Dominguez Blanco/CUPOTY
Animals category – winner
An Andean bear stands amidst the dense foliage of a highland rainforest in Ecopalacio Nature Reserve, La Calera, Colombia, about 30km from Bogotá, Colombia. Photo by Santiago J Monroy García/CUPOTY
Fungi category – winner
A 15mm tall ear-pick fungus growing on a pine cone. Photographed in the New Forest, United Kingdom.
Photo by Barry Webb/CUPOTY
Garden moss covered in dew drops. Photographed in Sneek, Netherlands. Photo by Piet Haaksma/CUPOTY
Young photographer category – third place
A globular springtail (Dicyrtomina ornata) infected by the fungus Pandora batallata, captured with extreme macro detail. Photographed in Berlin, Germany. Photo by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas/CUPOTY
Animals category – third place
A pine marten in the forest, triggered by a motion-activated camera. Photographed in Kiskőrös, Szücsi-forest, Hungary. Photo by Csaba Daróczi/cupoty.com
Intimate Landscape category – winner
The etched tunnels of bark beetle larvae (Ips typographus) beneath the bark of a spruce tree. Photographed at Le Monal in the French Alps. Photo by Jean-Philippe Delobelle/CUPOTY
Invertebrate portrait category – winner
A bark spider (Caerostris) rests on a stick in the Malaysian jungle. Photographed at Semenyih, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo by Aran Gibbs/CUPOTY
Wild orchids (Spiranthes spiralis) photographed in a gentle spiral, symbolizing nature’s renewal. Photographed in an urban environment in Toulouse, France. Photo by Sébastien Blomme/CUPOTY
Underwater category – third place
A reef goby guards its eggs on a blue tunicate in the Lembeh Strait, Indonesia. Photo by Saeed Rashid/CUPOTY
Arachnids category – winner
A female Mediterranean black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) feeds on its prey in Pollino National Park, Calabria, Italy. Photo by Pierluigi Rizzo/CUPOTY
Studio art category – winner
Crystals of amino acids (beta-alanine and L-glutamine) under a microscope. Photo by Rob Blanken/CUPOTY
Animals category – runner up
A pair of lesser horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus hipposideros) return to an abandoned iron ore mine. Photographed at Börzsöny Hill, Hungary. Photo by Imre Potyo/CUPOTY
A doctorfish (Acanthurus chirurgus) struggles in the jaws of a lizardfish (Synodontidae). Photographed at Kona, Hawaii, USA. Photo by Gabriel Jensen/CUPOTY
Young photographer category – third place
A robber fly (Asilidae sp.) feeds on a flesh fly (Sarcophagidae sp.). Photographed in Brandenburg, Germany. Photo by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas/CUPOTY
Fungi category – runner-up
A group of puffball mushrooms release spores in a chestnut forest in Covas, Spain. Photo by José Luis Gigirey González/CUPOTY
James Cutmore is the picture editor of BBC Science Focus Magazine. He has worked on the magazine and website for over a decade, telling compelling science stories through the use of striking imagery. He holds a degree in Fine Art, and has been nominated for the British Society of Magazine Editors Talent Awards, being highly commended in 2020. His main areas of interest include photography that highlights positive technology and the natural world. For many years he was a judge for the Wellcome Trust's image competition, as well as judging for the Royal Photographic Society.
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