Nature Close-Up

Jay's fabulous shot of this stunning dragonfly against the rising sun deservedly takes the top spot in this month's Nature Close-Up contest. His composition is minimalistic with the dragonfly perfectly centred against the diffused glow of the rising sun and with plenty of space around his subject to let it breathe too. Great job!

One of the amazing qualities of shooting with a macro lens is the ability to reveal details you'd never see with your naked eye. We've all seen a ladybird before, but putting it under the microscope reveals incredible details in its anatomy and the way the water drops on its back glisten in the sun.

David's magical macro mushroom photo caught our eye with his simple composition, vibrant colour palette and shallow depth of field. Using a 90mm macro lens he's been able to get up close to reveal all of the stunning details and water drops on his fungal focal points.

Karen's portrait of this colourful mantis is spot-on with it posed on a single flower for a clean composition and waiting until her subject was looking directly down the barrel of the lens for maximum eye contact. Shooting with a macro lens has allowed her to get close for a frame-filling shot and has also helped turn the background into a pleasing blur so the mantis clearly stands out.

There weren't many underwater images submitted to our Nature Close-Up contest this month so Dan's awesome aquatic shot of these two ghost gobies on a vibrant red whip coral instantly stood out to us. His shot is sharp and expertly lit, aiming his flashes at his tiny specimens whilst leaving the background black for some superb contrast.

We asked for close-up shots in nature and this image certainly fits the brief! The photographer has managed to get an awesome tight headshot of this colourful green tree python zooming in with their Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM and focusing on the snake's glistening eye to make sure it's the focal point of the shot.

Stuart’s captured a wonderfully tender moment between these two ‘love birds’. Zooming in on the details with his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 II lens and a 2x teleconverter has allowed him to get super close for a fantastic intimate portrait, which is dramatically lit and expertly executed.

When Adrian encountered a curious red fox in the Carpathian Mountains he rightly decided to take its portrait. A wide-angle lens is an unorthodox choice for wildlife photography, but it's paid off here, allowing for a much closer and intimate portrait with the fox's nose practically pushed up against the lens glass and we can see every hair in incredible detail.