Close-up Photographer of the Year 2024: In pictures

Gerhard Vlcek won the Micro category with his incredible cross-section of beach grass

Take a look at some of these stunning winning images from this year's Close-up Photographer of the Year competition.

11,870 entries from across the world were submitted for judging and there were winners across 11 categories - including Animals, Underwater and Butterflies & Insects.

The overall winner was taken by photographer Csaba Daróczi from Hungary.

The picture, named The Bird of the Forest, was taken on a GoPro camera, usually used for action sports.

It was submitted to the Animals category and bagged the snapper a cool £2,500 in prize money.

The Bird of the Forest

Csaba said: "In the winter of 2023, I took a lot of photos in a nearby forest. Almost every week I found a new topic that I perfected over several days.

"That's how I found this place surrounded by trees. I discovered a hollowed out tree stump... and put my Gopro 11 camera inside it. The results were amazing.

"After a few days, however, I figured out that an animal would improve the composition. I placed a sunflower near the hole, which the mice and the birds found."

Csaba also won the Butterflies and Dragonflies category with this stunning image of a nosy insect who had landed on a window outside a wedding party in Hungary.

The Wedding Guest by Csaba Darczi

The winner of the Young Close-Up Photographer of the Year was Carlos Pérez Naval from Spain.

The 17-year-old called his image Small Wonders. It is a close up of pyrolusite, which is the naturally occurring magnesium mineral in a stunning leaf-like formation, next to a Moorish gecko.

Small Wonders by Carlos Pérez Naval, 17, and winner of the Young Photographer category

The winner in the Insects section was this amazing image, entitled, Wood Ants Firing Acid Secretion.

René Krekels, who is a Dutch Biologist, said they took the picture when studying these ants for work.

"I noticed... a very large ants' nest seemed eager to scare me off by spraying acid towards me. Luckily it wasn't that destructive, and it provided me with a great opportunity to photograph them defending the nest."

Wood Ants Firing Acid Secretion by René Krekels

Australian photographer Simon Theuma was the winner of the Underwater theme, with this shot of a commensal shrimp, also known as a glass shrimp.

Dreamtime by Simon Theuma

A British gardener, Barry Webb won the Fungi, Slime and Mould prize with this amazing image of a crown of ice on top of a fungi.

He said it took him a few attempts to get this shot with other growths - his breath had melted the ice before he managed to take the perfect shot. But he eventually managed it.

The Ice Crown by Barry Webb