Spectacular Winning Images of the 2022 Close-Up Photographer of the Year Awards

Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) is a celebration of close-up, macro and micro photography. A global competition created to showcase images that help us see the world anew.

The overall prize went to this shot of two spotted salamanders being consumed by a northern pitcher plant in Algonquin provincial park, Canada. (Photo by Samantha Stephens/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

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A beautiful raft spider shot from underwater in the Gemenc forest in Hungary, the largest floodplain forest in central Europe. (Photo by Boldizsár Szűcs/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

A detailed shot of the wing of a damselfly seen in the New Forest in the United Kingdom, by the winner of the young photographer award. (Photo by Nathan Benstead/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

A female jumping spider photographed on scorching hot rocks on Mjältön, Sweden. (Photo by Gustave Parenmark/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

A huge atlas moth, with a wingspan of more than 9in, photographed on an areca nut plantation in Sirsi, India. (Photo by Uday Hegde/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

Shot with a macro lens, this captures the moment that two drops of oil merge. (Photo by Matt Vacca/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

A scarlet waxcap frosted in morning dew and spiderwebs, captured at Ebernoe cricket pitch in West Sussex. (Photo by Jeremy Lintott/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

A sea fan on the island of Aruba, dipped in seawater creating tiny seawater lenses. (Photo by Angelo Richardson/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

A green cat spider guarding its nest of tiny offspring in the mountains of central Taiwan. (Photo by Lung Tsai Wang/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

A snake digging itself in the sand to ambush its prey, next to tracks left by a dune gecko in the Negev desert in Israel. (Photo by Paul Lennart Schmid/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

A mimic octopus in larval form, shot in complete darkness 300ft below the surface of the ocean at Anilao in the Philippines. (Photo by Pietro Cremone/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

A schistidium moss, with intricate capsules shaped like tiny flowers. It is only 1mm wide and thrives on rocks or concrete. This one was photographed in Ulleråker, Sweden. (Photo by Harald Cederlund/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

Starlings feasting on crumbs from pizza and doner kebabs at Alexanderplatz in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Anton Trexler/Close Up Photographer of the Year)