Stop what you’re doing and take a look at these amazing images represent the very, very best of nature photography. Packed with atmosphere, mood and feeling, the winning images from the 2019 Nature Photographer of the Year competition are simply mind-blowing and should serve as an inspiration for photography fans everywhere.
This year’s awards saw a massive 14,000 entries from over 73 different countries, setting a new submissions record for the contest. This year’s top honour was awarded to Hungarian photographer Csaba Darócz, who took the top prize for his mono image of two rabbits leaping into the air. Judge Keith Wilson commented; “This photo is proof of the fact that you don’t have to get extreme rare or extraordinary species in front of your camera to be able to create a great nature photo.”
More information on entering next year’s contest can be found here, but we can share more of the amazing winning and highly commended images, starting with the winner of the Birds category, which was awarded to Peter Cech for an image entitled; ‘Greeting the Sun’. Peter shot this amazing frame using a Nikon D850 paired with a 24-70mm lens.
Taking top honours in the Mammals category was Stefano Quirini, who captured this snowy frame entitled ‘Under The Snow’, which was captured using a Nikon D500 paired with a 300mm lens.
The Plants and Fungi category winner was announced as Spanish photographer David Frutos Egea, who took the top spot for this incredible fine art frame, entitled ‘Survivor’ using a Canon 5D MkII paired with a 70-200mm lens.
Winner of the Landscapes category was Ales Krivec, who captured the foreboding sight of a storm above Triglav mountain in Slovenia using a Nikon D800 with a 28-300mm optic.
Taking the top honour in the Underwater category was Russian photographer Alexey Zozulya for this exceptional image entitled ‘Up In The Air’, which was taken with a Nikon D700 and 14-24mm lens.
Winning the ‘Man And Nature’ category was Luke Massey, who took the honour for an absolutely haunting frame, entitled ‘Lonely’. The image shows juvenile long tailed macaques for sale at Denpasar animal market in Bali and was captured a Canon 1DX with a 24-70mm lens.
Runner Up in the Birds category was this exquisite frame from R_Saltee. Entitled ‘Disagreement’, the image was captured using a Nikon D850.
Finalist in the Mammals category was this backlit frame by Mohammad Murad. Entitled ‘Colorful night’, the image shows two Arabian red fox kits framed by the glow of street lights along Kuwait city and was captured using a Canon 1DX MkII paired with a 500mm lens.
