World Nature Photography announced the winners

The World Nature Photography Awards international competition has announced the 2024 winners. The best photos of nature were noted on site awards

The photographer received the main award “World Photographer of the Year”. Tracy Lund for the picture “Underwater gannets”, which depicts seabirds fishing in the Shetland Islands.

“Thousands of seals appeared in the sky above us, and then began to dive into the sea for the local fish. An incredible sight. I took 1800 pictures that day, but only managed to use 2 of them”said the winner.

In the nomination “Animal portraits” the photographer couple Nikol and Lena Remy won with the work “Black fish-frog”. The depicted species of fish really has the name “frog” and lives in Australia.

“I knew that this black fish lives in the reef where I regularly dive, and I wanted to create a portrait that would highlight the nature of this predator lurking in ambush”– said Nikolay.

In the “Mammal Behavior” category, the work “Last Seconds” by photographer Alex Brech from Belgium won. The sad footage shows the moment before a cheetah attacks a baby zebra.

“That morning we decided to track four cheetahs on a hunt. We followed them for several hours. We passed herds of topi, gazelle and zebra. We knew something was about to happen. Five hours later our Maasai guide whispered, “They are coming on a zebra”…

In a few seconds, the cheetahs broke into a small group of zebras. One cheetah ran towards us. In those seconds, I took this photo of a mother zebra making a last-ditch effort to push her foal away from an attacking cheetah. She did not succeed. I will remember these last seconds for the rest of my life”the photographer shared.

In the nomination “Behavior of amphibians and reptiles” the photo of a lizard perched on the head of an iguana won. An amazing picture was taken by British photographer John Seager during a trip to the Galapagos Islands.

“The islands are home to legendary marine iguanas and lava lizards. It was the only time I saw a lizard basking on the head of an iguana, and both enjoyed the event with blissful smiles!” – said the author.

In the “Invertebrate Behavior” category, the judges noted a photo of crabs in sea foam by the American Bill Clipp, who also met his “photo heroes” in the Galapagos Islands.

The artist said he set up a tripod, pre-focused on the rock, and set a very long shutter speed to blur the water while keeping the crabs sharp.

And this fantastic picture won in the “People and Nature” category. It was taken by Greek photographer Ioannis Pavlos Evangelidis in Sri Lanka.

“Tail fishermen try their luck on the high tide at sunset in Coggal. This photo shows the movement of the water contrasting with the stillness of the fishermen.

“Artisanal” fishing methods used for survival do not pose a significant threat to the ocean’s natural resources, but rather engage local communities in preserving the health of the ocean.”says the description of the photo.

In the “Underwater” nomination, the jury of the competition awarded Andy Schmidt from Switzerland, who filmed a female killer whale hunting herrings.

“Every year huge shoals of herring migrate from the open ocean to the fjords of Northern Norway, attracting large numbers of predators such as killer whales and humpback whales. Watching killer whales eat herring is fascinating, but not easy to capture for many reasons: limited light and visibility, fast pace, and cold water.

To dive as a freediver and film the process in such conditions is quite difficult, but I managed to create a series of photos that I could not even dream of.”says the photographer.

Photographer Miki Spitzer from Israel, who photographed Icelandic glaciers, won in the “Art of Nature” category.

“The ice-blue watery veins, shimmering glacial spits and glittering golden sediment combine to create a wonderful mirage for the human eye. This is the gift of Iceland’s magical terrain”the author said.

In the “Landscapes of the Earth” category, another photo from Iceland by the Italian author Ivan Pedretti won.

“Winter in Stokesness. Black sand beach and majestic Westrahorn mountain. I love the color contrast between the white mountains and the black dunes with the yellow grass.” said the photographer.

In the “Plants and mushrooms” category, the winner was the photo in which an underwater plant resembles the face of an owl. The photo was taken by photographer Chatri Lertsintanakorn at the Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand.

In the “Black and white” category, the work of the American Richard Lee won – he filmed a luxurious leopard approaching the water in Kenya.

“I waited patiently in the hideout until late at night to capture the graceful moment”– the author recalls.

Israeli author Amit Eshel was awarded for the best photo “animals in the natural environment”. The jury won the photo of a fight between Nubian goats in the mountains of the desert.

“I spotted these adult males just after sunrise on the rock above me when they were just starting to fight. I climbed the rock, carefully walking around them, trying not to scare them, and slowly moved closer and closer to achieve that composition and angle the fall of light that he drew in his imagination”the author recalled.

In the “Urban Life” category, photographer Roy Wiesner also won with his photo of a nest, which the birds have curled into a half-broken dragon figure.

In the end, “gold” in the “Photojournalism” category went to Celia Kuyala from the USA, who once again highlighted the problem of ocean pollution. The photo of a sea lion cub called “Dangerous Toy” was taken on Coronado Island in California.

“Sea lion cubs usually play with rocks, seaweed and starfish. But increasingly – with pieces of plastic garbage”the description says.

You can see more photos of photographers who won silver and bronze in various categories Online World Nature Photography Awards (by the way, this vivid photo of a fish by Ferenc Lorinz won second place in the People and Nature category).

We will remind, earlier photo of a beetle in a Ukrainian reserve won the international contest “Wiki Loves the Earth-2023”.

We also showed which photos won in the “Garden Photographer of the Year” competition2024″.