Winners Of The Close-Up Photographer Of The Year Awards Give Their Unique Perspective On the World

Cheshire Gecko by Bernhard Schubert (Austria). Finalist, Animals. The impudent expression of this cat gecko (Aeluroscalabotes felinus) reminded me of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. In fact, this creature gets its name from the way it curls up its tail to cover itself while asleep, similar to a cat. I found this individual during a night walk through the Kubah National Park on the island of Borneo (Malaysia). I carefully placed an external flash under the leaf and the gecko so that some parts of its head were illuminated. Adjusting the flash even slightly resulted in a completely different picture.