No fewer than 25 judges make up the panel that has been whittling down entries in the annual Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) wildlife competition, and the 16 images in contention for prizes in the Underwater category can now been revealed.
The judges include professional photographers, magazine editors, conservationists and authors. It took some 20 hours of Zoom calls to agree on which of the 11,681 close-up, macro and micro photographs entered in 11 categories should advance to the shortlist stage of the 2024 competition.
The top 100 pictures and the category and overall winners will be selected only in January. There are 66 images shortlisted in the Underwater category and the 16 below are shown in alphabetical order of photographer.
The 10 categories besides Underwater are Animals, Arachnids, Butterflies & Dragonflies, Fungi, Insects, Intimate Landscape, Invertebrate Portrait, Plants, Studio Art and, for under-18s, Young. Some of these categories could also include underwater photography.
Top prize is £2,500 cash and a trophy, and each category winner collects £250 (the Young Close-up Photographer of the Year collects a £700 Sigma lens and trophy) along with other prizes.
Founded in the UK in 2018 by Tracy and Dan Calder “to reveal the hidden wonder of the world”, CUPOTY can claim to be the largest competition in its field. It is supported by a newsletter and runs a themed challenge throughout November. Find out more about CUPOTY 6 on the website.
Also on Divernet: Shrimp & star bag Underwater Close-up win, 10 underwater close-ups that seduced judges
