OXFORD MAIL camera club were set the challenge to take photos up close this week.

A lot of our entries captured wildlife and nature and members managed to use their macro lenses to capture the finest details such as the eyes of a female Zebra Jumping Spider and the inside of a sunflower.

The theme this week allowed people to take time as they tried to take photos as close as possible.

The photos showcase just some of the intricacies of nature.

But how did the photographers get so close up?

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Luke Chambers, 31, from Blackbird Leys, captured the photo of the Zebra Jumping Spider and said it took him a while to get the photo that he was happy with.

He said: "While the spider was walking around the budding leaves, taking quick glances in my direction every few seconds or so, that's when I started snapping away. Out of around 20 photos only around half of them were in focus, and only 4 of those were what I considered 'usable'.

"Sometimes you'll get a shot you're happy with on the very first snap but I've never had that experience with this rather small and speedy genus of spider."

Mark Bentley, 48, from Carterton, who captured the photo of the dog eye said he used his Canon 7D camera with a 24-105mm lens to get up close to Lemon the dog who died earlier this year.

He said: “It was taken whilst I was doing PR photos for a retired police dogs charity called Pension for Paws. Lemon would sit and let me get as close as I wanted.

"I like to take photos of dogs because they have great personalities and their expression tells a story."

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It took many attempts for Allen Dannfald, 45, from Abingdon, to get the shot of a drop of water. His photos were taken at 1/2500 of a second.

He said: "It was all about experimenting and learning to set my camera to be able to freeze time and capture something as simple as a drop of water, that is actually full of life and movement.

"It took me many attempts to capture the fascinating colours, reflections, intriguing abstract shots that I was pleased with. Yeah, it took some preparation and patience, but it was simple, fun and very rewarding."

Which of these photos are your favourite?