Winners of the Luminar Bug Photography Award 2020 announced

The winners of the 2020 Luminar Bug Photography Awards have just been announced, with first place going to Saudi Arabian photographer Mofeed Abu Shalwa. The overall title of ‘Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020’ was decided based on the strength of the five best-performing images.

Here are the winning images entered by Mofeed Abu Shalwa:

The inaugural competition, which was put together by Luminar and Photocrowd, runs in association with European charity Buglife, which supports invertebrate conservation efforts. The awards are to be held annually, with the dual aim of celebrating invertebrate photography and raising awareness about endangered invertebrate species and their habitats. 

With a total prizepool of £23,000 ($42,300AUD) up for grabs, this year saw over 5000 images entered in the competition. As winner, Mofeed Abu Shalwa will walk away with £2,500 in cash, and extra prizes valued at £2,000.

Jamie Spensely, a 17-year-old from from Solihull, United Kingdom has been named ‘Luminar Young Bug Photographer of the Year 2020’. His image of a carder bee has won him over £1,200 worth of prizes. 

Sitting on this year's judging panel was Buglife President, Germaine Greer, TV presenter and naturalist Nick Baker, and lauded invertebrates photographer Levon Biss.

To see more of the incredible winning images, head to the website here.