Autumn always seems to come and go too quickly. The peak golden colours last only a few days, and the low golden light quickly disappears into the shorter days and the cold of winter. The conditions can make it a challenging season to photograph, and yet thousands of you headed out with your Sony cameras and lenses and embraced the beauty that the season offers.

From all across Europe, we saw thousands of photographs that showed the diversity of what Autumn has to offer. From the trams of Prague passing under golden tree canopies to the spectacular seasonal light of the Dolomite mountains, we saw it all.

Amongst all of the images, Iwona Wilk’s (@naturephotography.by.iwona) image of a praying mantis hiding amongst golden leaves stood out for both its technical precision and its originality.

With her Sony Alpha 7 IV and FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS lens in hand, Iwona was about to get extremely lucky on this particular day.

“I spotted a female mantis walking through a warm carpet of golden foliage, so I followed her and took a series of photos as she moved.”

What happened next, Iwona remembers as “something magical”

“The mantis stepped on a one leaf, just as another drifted over her, wrapping around her like an elegant autumn gown. For a moment, she froze in this perfect pose, almost as if she knew she was being photographed. She “hugged” the leaf so naturally that it looked like a deliberate gesture, like a tiny model giving me her best pose, and then, just as gracefully, she continued on her way.”

Iwona’s passion for macro photography stems from her love of being outdoors ‘I have always enjoyed hiking and sitting quietly and watching the butterflies, bees and other tiny creatures going about their day’ she explains. ‘I always used to carry a small camera with me to capture these moments, but today I shoot with Sony gear, still chasing that same sense of wonder.’

The FE 90mm f2.8 Macro G OSS and Sony Alpha 7 IV are Iwona’s tools of choice to capture the beautiful, tiny worlds around us. It is an “absolutely wonderful combination for macro work” she says “The Alpha 7 IV gives me the balance I need between resolution, dynamic range, and handling, but what really stands out for me is the focus peaking. When you’re working with subjects as tiny and detailed as insects, even a millimetre can make or break the shot, so having such a reliable and precise focus aid allows me to capture every delicate texture confidently.”

Having won the competition, Iwona will now have a new camera to use with her 90mm macro lens – the Sony Alpha 7R V. “Macro photography remains my greatest passion, and the Alpha 7R V opens the door for me to explore it with even more precision and creativity. The 61-megapixel resolution and improved autofocus will allow me to capture the tiniest details. I’m excited to push the boundaries of what’s possible in handheld macro work.”

In second place was Ivan Ujevic’s (@ujevic.ivan) image of the Richter skyscrapers in Zagreb.

The challenge for Ivan was to frame all three buildings in the puddle, along with the leaves. “The leaves give the whole composition the feeling of autumn. I used the Super35 mode on my Sony Alpha 7R III and shot from a low angle to create the perfect composition.”

As runner-up, Ivan will receive the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II lens.

Finally, in third place was Ciobanu Alexandru (@slx_vision) with his image of vivid autumn trees reflected in the still water of a lake in his local park.

For coming third, Ciobanu will receive a Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G lens.

We’re looking forward to seeing what our winners shoot with each of their prizes! Thanks to everybody who entered the autumn edition of our Instagram competition. Make sure you are following @alphauniversebysony.eu on Instagram to stay updated on the latest happenings in the Sony Alpha universe and avoid missing the next edition of our Instagram competition, which will be starting very soon!