CUPOTY Challenge 2026 (Close to Home)

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• Open to professional and amateur photographers of any age and nationality, except people working for Close-up Photographer of the Year, the judges and their families. Sponsors' employees not involved in organising it may enter. soft

  “The Competition is open to all professional and amateur photographers of any age and nationality.”

• Entrants aged 17 or under may enter with permission: a parent or guardian pays and claims any prize for them. soft

  “Entrants aged 17 or under may enter the CUPOTY CHALLENGE but please seek permission from your parent or guardian before entering the Competition as your parent or guardian will need to complete the payment process, and claim any prize on your behalf.”

• Theme Close to Home: every image must be close-up, macro or taken with a microscope, and taken in a home and its immediate surroundings (rooms, outbuildings such as sheds, garages and greenhouses, garden, balcony, doorstep or the street directly outside), your own home or that of family or friends. Public gardens, parks, allotments, nature reserves, holiday accommodation and commercial premises do not count. The judges decide whether an image is close-up enough. hard

  “The CUPOTY CHALLENGE is a themed contest. The theme for 2026 is Close to Home. All images must be taken in a home and its immediate surroundings: the home’s rooms, outbuildings (such as sheds, garages and greenhouses), garden, balcony, doorstep or the street directly outside. This may be your own home or the home of family or friends.”

• The image must start from the photographer's own photograph (or an image made directly on light-sensitive material). Generative AI cannot create an image, add anything to it or extend the background. AI noise reduction, sharpening and enlargement are permitted (enlargement must be stated in the caption); tools that invent new detail or content are not. HDR, stitched panoramas, focus stacking and in-camera multiple exposures are allowed. Nature images must not deceive: no removing, painting over or hiding major items, no extending the frame, only minor cleanup with clone, heal or AI removal tools. Creative and studio images of arranged subjects (not living animals) may use composites and layered textures if the caption says so. The extent of any processing must be declared truthfully. hard

  “In all cases, the image must start from a photograph taken by the photographer, or from an image made by the photographer directly on light-sensitive material. Generative AI cannot be used to create an image, add anything to the original photograph or extend the background.”

• For any shortlisted image the organisers may ask for the original RAW or camera files, every source frame of a stacked, stitched or multiple-exposure image and any intermediate files. Shortlisted photographers have 14 days to send a high-resolution file when asked; missing that may lead to disqualification, though CUPOTY may extend it if told within the 14 days. The shortlist is due in March 2027 (home page). hard

  “The photographer must truthfully declare the extent of any post-processing or digital manipulation, and cannot claim a subject to be unmanipulated if it has been. The Organisers may request the original RAW or camera files, including all source frames for stacked, stitched or multiple-exposure images, and any intermediate files, for any shortlisted image.”

• No animal may be harmed or distressed, or habitat damaged: no stilling animals by freezing, chemicals, glueing or pinning, no restraining them and no live bait. Historical specimens and images from genuine scientific research are allowed. Captions must be accurate, and failing to disclose methods may lead to disqualification. hard

  “No animals should be harmed or distressed, nor any habitat damaged by the photographer in pursuit of an image entered into the competition. In particular, no animals should be stilled in any way, whether by freezing, chemicals, glueing or pinning, nor should they be restrained or attracted with live bait.”

• Pictures from any year may be entered. Images entered in an earlier CUPOTY competition may be entered only if they were not in its Top 100 or a CHALLENGE winners gallery. hard

  “Images that have already been entered into any previous CUPOTY competition but have not been included in The Top 100 or CHALLENGE winners galleries may be entered into the CUPOTY CHALLENGE.”

• You must be the sole author and own the copyright, with permission from anyone recognisably pictured (a parent or guardian for under-16s) and from owners of property shown, and you indemnify CUPOTY and its sponsors against third-party claims. hard

  “you are the sole author of each entry and that it is your original work”

What you grant

Copyright stays with the photographer: "CUPOTY respects your rights and does not claim copyright for pictures you submit to the Competition, you will retain full copyright for each entry." "By entering the Competition, you grant CUPOTY and its sponsors and supporters a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free licence to display, reproduce, adapt and publish, by any means, in any media, throughout the world, any winning, finalist or shortlisted images for any purpose directly connected with the Competition." The listed uses include judging, display on the websites of sponsors and supporters, "publishing the entries in associated books, magazines, calendars, posters, flyers and cards — both print and digital", exhibitions and talks, "sub-licensing the entries to the press for reproduction in connection with the Competition and any related exhibition or book", and social media. "Should any use of the image beyond those needed to promote the Competition arise, permission will be sought from you in advance with terms and conditions to be agreed on by all parties."

Duration

"Winning, finalist and shortlisted images will be used to promote the competition for a period of five years from the announcement of the winners. Winning, finalist or shortlisted images may also be held in a Competition Winners Archive on the Site, in perpetuity, so the public can see any winning or shortlisted entries from previous years."

Exclusivity

none

Attribution

Required

Copyright retained by photographer

Yes