The winner of our latest Close-Up Photographer of the Year competition captured two juvenile salamanders slowly being eaten by carnivorous plants. This contest is only in his fourth year, but it is already a highlight of the annual photo contest calendar.
Founded in 2018 by two British photographers, the Close-Up Photographer of the Year contest honors macro and micro photography of all kinds. In the fourth installment, two new categories were added, creating ten broad entry areas, from animals, insects and butterflies to man-made objects, underwater photography and fungi.
Rory Wills/cupoty.com
This contest does not have a strict definition of what a “close-up” shot should be. As such, a variety of shots are celebrated here, from extreme microscopic images to more conventional close-up photographs that place animals and insects in their larger environments.
This year’s top award went to Canadian photographer Samantha Stevens. Stevens, working with researchers at the Algonquin Wildlife Institute, discovered that Northern her pitcher plants caught two salamanders, not hers.
Samantha Stevens/cupoty.com
“While following researchers on a daily survey, we found two salamanders floating on the surface of the liquid in the jug, both in the same stage of decomposition,” Stevens said. “I knew it was a special and fleeting moment. The next day, both salamanders were at the bottom of the jug.”
Juan Ahumada/cupoty.com
Other highlights of this year’s impressive winner include the surreal footprints of a sandviper in the Sahara, a tiny toad hiding in a mastiff’s footprints, and a surreal close-up of a knotted rubber band.
Check out the gallery for all the best shots from this year’s competition.
Source: CUPOTY
