They look like something from a Ridley Scott film, but these are not aliens battling for supremacy. They are stag beetles (Lucanus cervus) fighting for mating rights in an oak forest in Voronezh, Russia.
The image of these wee beasties, taken by photographer Svetlana Ivanenko, was named overall winner in the sixth edition of Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY).
The competition, which this year attracted more than 11,000 submissions from 61 countries, offers an alternative view of the world through close-up, macro and micro photography.
Here are six standout images created by winning photographers from around the globe, including RPS member Barry Webb FRPS.
1. ‘Clash of the Titans’ by Svetlana Ivanenko (Russia), Overall winner and first place, Insects, CUPOTY 6 (see image above)
“For a brief period in the summer, stag beetles (Lucanus cervus) engage in fierce battles for mating rights. These elusive creatures inhabit oak forests, making them hard to find. Witnessing this beautiful event makes me want to share it with everyone.”
2. ‘God in the shadows’ by Santiago J Monroy García (Colombia), first place, Animals, CUPOTY 6
“The highland rainforests of the Andes are among the densest, coldest and most humid forests on the planet. They are home to the only bear species native to South America – the Andean bear. This particular individual, known as ‘Nariz de calavera’ (Skull nose), is one of the largest bears living near Bogotá, Colombia, at the Ecopalacio Nature Reserve.”
3. ‘Queen of hearts’ by Pierluigi Rizzo (Italy), first place, Arachnids, CUPOTY 6
“The photo portrays a female Mediterranean black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) intent on eating its prey. It results from overlapping two photos, taken and designed for this aim. In the first photo I shot the spider's abdomen to emphasise the spider’s characteristic red spots. In the second I wanted to capture the moment of feeding so I placed a flash with a blue gel behind the spider to obtain its silhouette. The two photos were merged in-camera.”
4. ‘Damselfly by the waterfall’ by Yong Miao (China), first place, Butterflies and Dragonflies, CUPOTY 6
“In July, Tianmushan Nature Reserve in China is immersed in a hot and romantic atmosphere. This is the fourth consecutive year I have stepped into this primeval forest, tracing the footsteps of that murmuring stream. Just as the sky was about to darken, I was still exploring the upper reaches of the stream when, at the bottom of a turbulent bend, I discovered a damselfly (Archineura incarnata) resting on a rock. Its head was lowered to the surface of the water, as if appreciating its own reflection. At that moment, time seemed to stand still. Any slight disturbance would make it fly away so I immersed my body in the water and crawled towards it. From a distance of about 2m, I set my camera and captured this precious scene.”
5. ‘Ear-pick fungus’ by RPS member Barry Webb (UK), first place, Fungi and Slime Moulds, CUPOTY 6
“I had seen ear-pick fungus a couple of times before, but this was the first one I found myself. Auriscalpium vulgare grows on pine cones and has an eccentric stem attached to one side of the cap, with unusual and distinctive downward-pointing, teeth-like gills. This specimen is particularly small, at around 15mm tall. I placed a leaf carefully behind the pine cone to create a complementary background, and fired off 74 focus-bracketed shots to obtain sufficient depth of field and to keep the background nicely diffused.”
6. ‘Mosses’ by Piet Haaksma (Netherlands), first place, Plants, CUPOTY 6
‘After a foggy night in early spring, I noticed many water droplets still clung to some moss in my garden. I used a large aperture with a 150mm macro lens to create a soft, quiet background. Only after combining two shots of the same area, and adjusting the colour temperature to create a dreamy blue tint, did I achieve the image I had in mind.”
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