CUPOTY: See the world anew
Award winners of Close-up Photographer of the Year 02, share the techniques behind their pictures with co-founder
Curator and historian Beaumont Newhall once said, ‘We are not interested in the unusual, but in the usual seen unusually.’ It’s a quote that seems particularly relevant at the moment with so many of us staying close to home and turning to familiar scenes and subjects for inspiration. If you adopt a childlike curiosity, pretty much anything can become a subject for close-up photography. Among the 6,500 entries to this year’s competition we saw pictures of bubbles resembling planets, sheets of metal painted with mountain ranges made of rust and weeds celebrated as though they were gold medal winners at the Chelsea Flower Show. Of course, there were also more unusual subjects: the swim bladders of transparent larvae, egg cases lined up as though they were an army of Stormtroopers in Star Wars, and molten lava reminding us that the planet we live on is a living, breathing, fragile thing.
This year there were six categories: Animals, Insects, Plants & fungi, Intimate landscape, Manmade and Micro, as well as Young CUPOTY. Galice Hoarau took the overall title for his beautifully minimal shot of an eel larva, while Tamás Koncz-Bisztricz was named Young Close-up Photographer of the Year 02 for his magical picture of a yellow globular springtail, taken close to his home in Hungary. Whether you travel a hundred miles or a hundred yards, if you arrive at your destination with fresh eyes and a beginner’s mind you will be rewarded with images that bring joy to both yourself and others.
To see all the winners and awarded entries from CUPOTY 02, visit www. cupoty.com.
Winner: Plants & Fungi Elizabeth Kazda Mandala with Miniature Tulips
Category Plants & Fungi Occupation Artist, City Council member Further information Facebook: beth.kazda ‘My goal here was to create art that challenges the viewer to look at the natural world with fresh eyes. I collected miniature tulips from my garden and placed them on a lightbox. The vivid yellow centres were so striking that I decided to create a composition that would show both a side view and a centre view of the plants. The tulips were photographed and rotated at eight equidistant positions to complete a full rotation; it’s a technique that I call Precise Incremental Rotation. An in-camera multiple exposure of eight frames was used to create the effect. The characteristics of the tulips are really emphasised when rendered within the rotational symmetry of the mandala form. The curved green leaves make a great frame for the flower, while the centre of the design highlights the tulip’s anthers.’
ELIZABETH’S TOP TIPS
1 Become proficient with manual mode and manual focusing.
2 Experiment and invent a unique technique. 3 Accept that some experiments might not work but you still learn something of value from them.
Overall Winner: Close-up
Photographer of the Year 02
Galice Hoarau
Eel Larvae
Category Animals Occupation Professor in marine molecular ecology Further information Website: galice.no, Facebook: GaliceUWP ‘I spotted this eel larva off the island of Lembeh (Indonesia) during a blackwater dive. Blackwater diving is essentially diving at night in the open ocean, over deep water with only a lit downline as a visual reference. Peering through the darkness with your torch can be stressful the first time you do it, but it gets fascinating very quickly. What makes blackwater diving so magical is the abundance of rarely seen planktonic creatures you spot as they take part in one of the largest daily migrations of any animal on Earth. After sunset, small pelagic animals (like this larva) rise close to the surface to feed where the sunlight has allowed planktonic algae to grow. At sunrise, they dive into the depths and stay down there during the day to escape predators.’
GALICE’S TOP TIPS
1 Dive, dive dive!
2 Embrace the darkness – try blackwater diving.
3 Use a good spotting light – it allows you to appreciate colour and life underwater.
Finalist: Intimate Landscape
Mike Curry
Liquid Silk
Category Intimate Landscape Occupation Photographer
Further information Website: mikecurryphotography.com, Facebook: mike curry photographer, Ins tag ram: mike curry photography ‘The sense of energy at Canary Wharf in London is palpable. It’s not a place that is often associated with quiet contemplation, yet pausing for a moment reveals beauty and softness alongside the corporate architecture. The patterns and colours can be mesmerising as they change with the light and weather. With so much activity around, capturing these images requires a focus that isn’t immediately obvious to passers-by – I spend hours examining a small body of water, waiting for something out of the ordinary. The more I stand and watch, the more I see, and yet the more I look the more I notice that “looking” is futile; it’s more about feeling and anticipating. This image was inspired by my childhood fascination with kaleidoscopes and spirographs, and the endless variation of colours and shapes they create.’
MIKE’S TOP TIPS
1 Spend as much time as possible with your subject. The longer you spend with it, the more likely you are to capture something unexpected and interesting.
2 Look beyond photography for inspiration – I admire the work of artists such as Rothko and Klimt, for example.
3 Keep returning to the same location to see how it changes throughout the year.
Finalist: Insects
Jacky Parker
Lady in Red
Category Insects Occupation Photographer Further information Website: www.jackyparker.com, Facebook: Jacky Parker Flower Photography, Ins tag ram: jacky parker photography ‘I’m always on the hunt for ladybirds in my garden, so I was thrilled when I came across this seven-spot variety climbing over the bud of an oriental poppy. I grabbed my camera and set it to continuous shooting mode. After taking several shots as the insect moved along the petal I finally got what I was looking for.’
JACKY’S TOP TIPS
1 Make the most of continuous shooting mode when capturing moving insects.
2 Be patient when hunting for insects as they can appear when you least expect them to.
3 Always have your camera to hand when gardening as you will often find insects hidden amongst the foliage.
Finalist: Animals
Bence Mate
Beaks
Category Animals Occupation Photographer
Further information Website: www.matebence.hu, Facebook: BenceMatesPhotography, Instagram: bence_mate_photography ‘In many parts of the world humans have persecuted animals relentlessly, making some species very wary. The fishermen on Lake Kerkini in Greece, however, are an exception. The fish they can’t sell are offered as a treat to the pelicans who, as a result, have become exceptionally confiding. Having witnessed this first hand, I was inspired to design a floating device that would allow me to take extreme close-ups of the birds. A year later, I went back with a homemade water purification system, which filtered clear water into a pool we constructed in the middle of the lake. After 22 hours there were 15 cubic metres of clean water in which I could shoot for 15 minutes before the pelicans muddied the waters again.’
BENCE’S TOP TIPS
1 Play the long game – to capture the image shown here I had to return to the lake with a floating device and a homemade water purification system!
2 Photoshop can be used to enhance an image, but the sole goal of post-production should be to reflect reality in the most accurate way possible.
3 You don’t have to go to exotic places to take unique shots.
Winner: Micro
Name: Andrei Savitsky
Title: Glass Worm
Category Micro Occupation Electrician Further information Instagram: andrei.savitsky ‘Glass worms can vary in length from about half an inch to two inches. On the right side of this particular image you can see the large tracheal bubbles that serve as hydrostatic organs (or swim bladders). These bubbles allow the larvae to keep its horizontal position in the water column, while also helping to regulate the depth of its immersion. The bubbles are covered with dark pigment cells that can resize – if the cells expand due to absorption of light, the tracheal bubbles heat up and increase in volume, reducing the weight of the larvae and causing it to float up. To create the picture here I made a panorama of eight frames, each of which was focus stacked. To make the image as detailed (and aesthetically pleasing) as possible I used darkfield and polarisation techniques.’
ANDREI’S TOP TIPS
1 To create an image like this you need a microscope and experience of darkfield and polarisation techniques.
2 Microscopy needn’t be expensive – this picture was taken with a smartphone, through a basic microscope.
3 Experiment with focus stackingin order to maximise detail.
Winner: Insects
Mike Curry
Fragile
Category Insects Occupation Photographer Further information Website: mikecurryphotography.com, Instagram: mikecurryphotograph, Facebook: mikecurryphotographer ‘I was visiting Goole, the town where I was born, in November 2018 as my dad was very ill in hospital. To take my mind off things I went for a walk with my wife Justine. There had been no time to pack really so all I had with me was my iPhone XS. We were walking towards the docks when I saw some beautiful peeling paint on an abandoned building site. I went over to photograph it when Justine asked if I had noticed the butterfly too. I hadn’t as I was miles away, but had already captured this image serendipitously. It felt a surreal moment as my dad particularly liked butterflies and always commented that they represented relatives who had passed away, making it even more poignant. Unfortunately he passed away shortly after, so this is a special photograph for me.’
MIKE’S TOP TIPS
1 Look for shapes and patterns in urban environments – there is so much beauty that can be found in ordinary, overlooked objects.
2 Sometimes an image can be captured serendipitously, so remain relaxed and open to receive it.
3 Spend time refining and perfecting your technique.
Shortlisted: Plants & Fungi
Cathryn Baldock
Autumn Beeches
Category Plants & Fungi Occupation Administrator for head gardener Further information Website: cathrynbaldockphotography.com, Instagram: cathrynbaldock ‘This image was taken in the New Forest on a dull day in October. I spent some time photographing a rather splendid beech tree that had caught my eye in the car park. I used in-camera multiple exposures to experiment with different textures. First I took some shots of the bark up close and then I captured an overlaying exposure looking up into the branches so that the leaves were superimposed in outline.’
CATHRYN’S TOP TIPS
1 Experiment using in-camera blend modes for multiple exposures.
2 .Always have your camera ready. This image was created in a car park, so you never know when an opportunity will arise.
3 Look for abstract images that reflect your connection to the environment.
Finalist: Insects
Juan Jesús González Ahumada
Water Scorpions
Category Insects Occupation Official Further information Website: jjgahumada.com, Instagram: jjgahumada ‘When night falls, water scorpions rise to the surface of the pond and begin to interact with fellow waterdwelling creatures. While they might have a sinister appearance, these insects belong to the genus of bed bugs, and aren’t actually dangerous. The caudal tube that helps them to breathe (and resembles a tail) is harmless. The pincers, however, help them to grab their prey, which they then kill with their beak. To show their wonderful outlines, and reduce them to silhouettes, I placed two flashlights under two water scorpions in the pond.’
JUAN’S TOP TIPS
1 Do your research and get to know the species you plan to photograph.
2 One of the best tools at your disposal is patience. 3 No matter how much planning you do, there will always be an element of luck required.
Finalist: Micro
Marek Miś
Recrystallized Callus Remover 3
Category Micro Occupation Biologist / Photographer
Further information Websites: mismicrophoto.com and marekmis.pl, Instagram: marekmisphotography, Facebook: Marek Mi – Mikrofotografia ‘Callus remover (used to remove areas of thickened skin) is one of my favourite substances for crystallisation. I’ve been taking photographs of this substance for a long time now and almost always find something new to capture. On this occasion the crystals had formed into structures that reminded me of a Native American village with tents pitched all over the hills. Using polarised light offered me an unlimited variety of colours and shapes, which changed when I rotated the polariser. I looked for colours that helped define the shapes I wanted to emphasise. I rotated the camera until the composition felt balanced. Photographing crystals is relatively simple compared to living objects. The main challenge lies in showing crystals of the same substance in a different way.’
MAREK’S TOP TIPS
1 When viewed through the microscope, even the most common substance can appear beautiful.
2 By using polarised light you can create unlimited shapes and colours.
3 Always look for something new.
Finalist: Intimate Landscape
Don Komarechka
Frost Lantern
Category Intimate Landscape Occupation Photographer
Further information Websites: www. donkom.ca and skycrystals.ca, Instagram: donkomphoto, Facebook: donkom ‘What if you could make a freezing soap bubble in to its own light source? By combining invisible ink that fluoresces blue with dish soap and white corn syrup (glucose syrup), you can create a bubble that freezes beautifully. Add in a custom-built ultraviolet flash and you will see it illuminate from within, glowing like a lantern of frost. This image was made on a cold winter’s night in Ontario, Canada. It was the result of a crazy “what if?” experiment.’
DON’S TOP TIPS
1 This image was the result of many failed attempts that came before it. Treat your mistakes as stepping stones towards eventual success.
2 Always ask yourself ‘what if?’ 3 Be inventive and share your unique view with others via your camera.
Winner: Young Close-up Photographer of the Year 02
Tamás Koncz-Bisztricz
Little Ball
Category Young Close-up Photographer of the Year
Age 16 Further information Website: kbtamas.blogspot.com, Instagram: kbtamas, Facebook: Koncz-Bisztricz Tamás ‘I regularly visit a meadow near my hometown of Csongrád-Bokros, Hungary, observing the site in all seasons. The meadow is grazed by Hungarian grey cattle, which keeps the place in relatively good condition. One frosty winter’s morning I headed out to take some extreme macro shots at the surface of some frozen water that had pooled in the tracks left by a tractor. Crouching down, I spotted some yellow globular springtails (Sminthurus maculatus) which feed in the sunrays reflected from the ice. I used LED torches to illuminate one of them, and came away with a picture that celebrates this tiny creature.
TAMÁS’S TOP TIPS
1 Yellow globular springtails are often active in winter you can get some really interesting shots of them on icy surfaces.
2 Pick a local site, and get to know it in all seasons. 3 Get down to an animal’s eye level.