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

For the second year, the Close-up Photographer of the Year competition has spotlighted the small world that often passes under our noses, unobserved. Through micro, macro, and close-up photography, these photographers settle into the details and expose new aspects of our planet. This year's contest has had more entries than ever, with over 6,500 images submitted from photographers in 52 different countries.

"Glassworm" by Andrei Savitsky (Ukraine). Winner, Micro. "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 polarization techniques."