Eligibility

1. The Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) competition (‘the Competition’) is open to everyone except those working for CUPOTY (‘the Organisers’) and the Judges (including their families and relatives). Employees of sponsors who have not been directly involved in the organisation of the Competition may enter.

2. By paying to enter the Competition you agree to abide by the following rules (‘Rules’).

3. The Competition is open to all professional and amateur photographers of any nationality.

4. All entries must be submitted in a digital format. This may be a photograph captured with a digital camera or a high-quality scan from a transparency or negative.

5. Entrants to the competition must be aged 18 or over on June 12th 2022. Entrants aged 17 or under on June 12th 2022 should enter Young CUPOTY.

   Closing date

6. The Competition closes on June 12th 2022 at 11:59PM BST (‘the Closing Date’), after which you will no longer be able to pay for entry. Images for entry can continue to be sent to CUPOTY for another 7 days after this deadline.

   Entry requirements

7. All images entered in the Competition should be close-up, macro or taken with a microscope. The final decision as to whether an image fits this requirement will be down to the Judges. Guidance is provided in the FAQ but if you are unsure, please email a low-res image to [email protected] before entering.

8. There is no time limit to when the images were taken, pictures may be entered from any year.

9. Any type of camera may be used to capture an image for the Competition, including a mobile phone. Images for the Micro category may use any type of light microscope or objective on a lens and employ any technique.

10. Any creative technique may be used so long as it is stated in the caption of the original submission or in the information we request for shortlisted entries. Black and white, tinted, HDR, square, stitched panoramic, focus stacked and multi-exposed photographs are all acceptable. Diptychs, triptychs and polyptychs will be accepted if they are submitted as a single image.

11. The image must start from a photograph, but any kind of editing and adjustments are allowed. The photographer must truthfully declare the extent of any post-processing techniques or digital manipulation used and cannot claim a subject to be unmanipulated if it has been.

    
    Ethics

12. No animals should be harmed or distressed, nor any habitat damaged by the photographer in pursuit of an image entered into the competition.

13. In particular, no animals should be stilled in any way, whether by freezing, chemicals, glueing or pinning, nor should they be restrained or attracted with live bait.

14. Pictures of historical specimens are allowed, as are images captured as a result of genuine scientific research.

15. Entries must not deceive the viewer or misrepresent the reality of animal behaviour. The caption information must be correct, accurate and true.

16. The Competition may ask for further information from the photographer about their methods and the health of the creature before, during and after the photograph was taken.

17. If the entrant fails to fully disclose their methods and/or any breach of these ethics (rules 12–17) are made, it may result in the entrant being disqualified from the Competition.
    

    Categories

18. Entrants aged 18 or over on June 12th 2022 can enter the following 10 categories:

    Animals

    Insects

    Butterflies & Dragonflies

    Invertebrate Portrait

    Underwater

    Plants

    Fungi

    Intimate Landscape

    Manmade

    Micro

19. Image file requirements

20. Initial entry to the Competition requires low-resolution image files to be sent via the form on the Site, which you can find here.