Photography could be a lucrative business if you’re a photographer. But if you’ve got your lens ready at specific moments in time, you could snap some shots that are “once in a lifetime.” Speaking of photography, taking snapshots from mother nature could well be that golden opportunity in a lifetime.
Dear photographers, if you’re looking forward to taking your lens further to get that amazing shot, head into the woods and shoot raccoons making out. You could win an Academy Award for “Best Love-Making Scene.”
Speaking of awards, you might not win an Oscar (sorry) but your image could be one of the millions of photos judged by the World Photography Awards as the best in nature.
Related media: Winning Images From The Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2022 Competition
The World Nature Photography
This is an annual event that features a variety of photos from several photographers across the globe. The awards are categorized by the nature of the photograph: this ranges from animal portraits, behavior in animals, and animals in their habitats to nature arts to people in nature, plants and fungi, landscapes and environments to black and white images, urban wildlife, and nature photojournalism.
These images are then analyzed based on their significance and awarded into three distinct categories; namely Gold, Silver, and Bronze. This year’s awards made a list of the best nature photos and adjudged the title of World Nature Photographer of the Year to Jens Cullmann for his image ‘Danger in the mud.’
Here are some of the best photographs that made it up the list:
‘Danger In The Mud’ By Jens Cullmann
“This photograph is the result of my staking out the largest pool in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, at a time when an extended drought had reduced the pool to rapidly-drying mud,” said Cullmann at the awards.
“I had to be very careful not to disturb the crocodile, even though it was buried in dry mud.”
‘Playgroup’ By Hidetoshi Ogata
Ogata recounted that:
“This photo captures a rare moment during the lactation season when three pairs of monkeys [Japanese macaques on Awaji Island] have formed a huddle after grooming.”
‘Ride On You’ By Ikuma Norihiro
Norihiro recounted that:
“The ‘Japanese stream toad’ lives deep in the mountains of Owase in Mie, Japan and only comes down from the mountains to the river when it is time to spawn.”
‘I’m Coming For You’ By Charles Schmidt
“A Male Hooded Merganser takes flight headed directly at me,” Schmidt recounted.
“I had been watching a pair of Hooded Mergansers in anticipation of them taking off. I saw that they began to swim more quickly and thus was prepared to catch them taking off. I was lucky that they headed directly towards me!”
‘The Ghost Of Rocks’ By Javier Herranz Casellas
“A red crab (Grapsus adscensionis) appears surrounded by a thin curtain of water produced by the waves of the sea when it hits the rocks in which it looks for the small crustaceans and plants on which it feeds. La Gomera Island, Spain.”
‘Underwater Coral Snowstorm’ By Tom Shlesinger
“Corals are animals, and this is how they reproduce and create new generations of baby corals.”
“In this photo, a close up of a branching coral spawn pinkish egg-and-sperm bundles.”
‘The Guts’ By Virgil Reglioni
“This is how it feels to be inside the glacier’s guts. Not many people would even dare to go in there, where it is dark, deep, cold, loud, and wet. And that is the whole purpose of this photograph.”
‘Tree Of Life’ By Julie Kenny
“The tree is seen as a sacred symbol, which carries significant meanings in both religious and spiritual philosophies,” said Kenny at the awards.
“From above the surrounding sheep tracks combined with the fallen tree reminded me of the Tree of Life.”
‘Harlquin Shrimps’ By Adriano Morettin
“A couple of Harlequin shrimps Hymanocera picta photographed with the snoot on the blue seastar Linkia laevigata in Lembeh strait, Indonesia.”
’The Grand Tetron’ By Jake Mosher
“On June 17th, 2021, I hiked, snowshoed, and climbed to the 11,000-foot summit of Wyoming’s Table Mountain to photograph the Milky Way over Grand Teton Peak.”
“I wanted to show an entirely unique view of them. I was treated to one of the most spectacular displays of airglow that I’ve ever seen.”
‘Vulnerable’ By Ernoult Alain
“The Lesser Antillean Iguana, photographed on Grenada Island (Windward Islands, Caribbean, West Indies).”
Taken by French nature photographer Alain, he dubbed it ‘Vulnerable’ but had a resemblance with Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic celebration. We don’t really know if this iguana was imitating CR7 or CR7 was imitated this iguana.
The ’CR7’ Effect is real!
’The World Is Mine’ By Sascha Fonseca
“A beautiful snow leopard triggers my camera trap high up in the Indian Himalayas,” Fonseca recounts.
“I captured this image during a 3-year DSLR camera trap project in the Ladakh region in northern India.”
’The Home Of The Kestrel’ By Vladislav Tasev
“A male kestrel perched in its nest, dilapidated old, tall and rusty street lamps that have become the bird’s home.”
“A place I wouldn’t expect to see her. I took the picture at sunset to see the rust, the lamps and the bird in natural light.”
’Injured Fur Seal’ By Nicolas Remy
An Australian fur seal shows a bad injury from a boat propeller. Shot in Port Kembla, NSW, Australia.
Many congratulations to all our winners!
For your chance to have your work seen by millions of people around the world, you can enter 2023’s competition here.
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Written by: Nana Kwadwo, Thu, Mar 09, 2023.