Since the beginning of the 21st century, the art of photography has become much popular and refined. Various photography contests have inspired many photographers to immortalize astounding scenes through the lens. Celebrating the world’s best nature photographers, the World Nature Photography Awards has announced its winners for the year 2020, as they highlight the breathtaking wonders of the planet.
A relatively new global nature photography contest, the inaugural World Nature Photography Awards has delivered a brilliant collection of amazing photographs exhibiting the natural wonders of the planet. Across 13 categories, a panel of judges voted on images submitted by wildlife and nature photographers around the world. The judges decided the winners based on the image’s artistic merit, originality, subject, and style.
The Grand Prize was won by the winner of the “Animals in their Habitat” category, Canadian photographer Thomas Vijayan for his winning image of a Bornean orangutan. Here are the other winners of the World Nature Photography Awards 2020.
Animals in their Habitat: The Canadian photographer, Thomas Vijayan climbed on a tree that was in the water to get a perfect frame and waited hours for this winning shot of a Bornean orangutan.
Image: Thomas Vijayan
Animal Portrait: A Bengal Tigress captured in a watering hole, with beautiful light and shadow providing a perfect photograph.
Image: Nick Dale
Behavior – Amphibians and Reptiles: These two European common brown frogs were photographed in Aveto, Italy, during the spring mating season.
Image: Vittorio Ricci
Behavior – Birds: Pictured near High River, Canada, this Great Horned Owl forms a beautiful flying saucer while thrusting its wings forward to gain momentum.
Image: Dale Paul
Behavior – Invertebrates: Dr. Tze Siong Tan was lucky to capture the conspicuous mating event of dragonfly and damselfly at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore.
Image: Dr Tze Siong Tan
Behavior – Mammals: An intruder lioness approaches a watering hole in the Serengeti, but a small pride that already claimed this territory, attacks the lioness in order to drive her away.
Image: Raymond Nowotny
People and Nature: Taken in the Pacific Ocean, this photograph features a diver underwater, surrounded by fish.
Image: Christa Funk
Plants and Fungi: Captured from a kayak at one misty dawn in a lake in East Texas, this photograph features large bald cypress trees growing out of the water, with enchanting November fall foliage.
Image: Doron Talmi
Urban Wildlife: A songbird pulls at a construction tape to tear a thread.
Image: Lawrence Worcester
Planet Earth’s Landscapes and Environments: The stunning winter landscape features the beautiful clouds in the sky around Mount Cimon de la Pala, in the Pale San Martino Range, Italy.
Image: Alessandro Gruzza
Black and White: Ulysses, one of the last remaining great tuskers was photographed by Harry Skeggs.
Image: Harry Skeggs
Nature Art: Dipanjan Pal captured this gorgeous natural beauty – a glacial river gracefully flowing through the black sand to the Atlantic.
Image: Dipanjan Pal
Nature Photojournalism: This photograph is a sad, hard-hitting reality, where the conservationists had to cut the horns of a white rhino to protect it from poachers.
Image: Gunther de Bruyne