The 2024 Our Nature Environmental Photography Awards have unveiled a breathtaking collection of winning images, showcasing the beauty, fragility, and resilience of our planet. This prestigious annual competition celebrates the world’s most inspiring nature and environmental photography, emphasizing untouched natural treasures, the profound human connection to the environment, and the pressing challenges of sustainability.
From mesmerizing landscapes to poignant depictions of the impact of climate change, the winning photos serve as a powerful reminder of the need to protect our planet. By spotlighting these remarkable works, the awards continue to amplify awareness of environmental issues and inspire action for a sustainable future.
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#1. Nature, Finalist: "Unreal Atmosphere" by Alexandre Bès
"Lake “Magadi” which means “soda” in Swahili bears its name very well, since it contains a unique concentration of caustic soda, produced naturally by the transformation of sediments in contact with runoff water and molten lava under the lake. In this salty water, millions of lesser flamingos come to feed on microalgae, shrimp, and other crustaceans. "
#2. Nature, Finalist: "Looking around from a porthole" by Federica Cordero
"Male chimpanzee looking at me from its liana. I was in Kibale national park, Uganda. I’ve been there for a day looking for chimps. Early in the morning I met a big group that was feeding on a high fig tree, so quite far away from me. After some hours I left the group to find a better subjiect. When I went away this young male followed me and he became to act like the best top model I’ve ever seen."
#3. Nature, Finalist: "Dawn’s whispers" by Hermis Valiyandiyil
"A Hoopoe took flight with its wings spread in a smooth motion across the canvas of the early-morning sky that was illuminated up by the sunrise’s bright hues. I saw that this bird would occasionally grab its prey in the air and other times on the ground. Additionally, I observed that each time it caught a prey, it flew in the same direction to a nearby tree."
#4. Nature, Finalist: "Photo" by Kránitz Roland
#5. Nature, Finalist: "Four in a row" by Marjan Artnak
"Beautiful demoiselle females lay their eggs in water on a submerged piece of wood."
#6. Nature, Finalist: "Protected life" by Massimo Giorgetta
"Indonesia – Sulawesi – Lembeh strait. A night dive encounter with a magical 5 cm salp Tunicate in Lembeh Strait – North Sulawesi, Indonesia. This mysterious sea creature is so transparent, it’s almost invisible. Filled and covered by other marine life, it is like a miniature diverse ecosystem, floating through the night sea."
#7. Nature, Finalist: "Cumbre Vieja volcano" by Matjaz Krivic
"Photo of a ravaged mountainside with a single tree withstanding the lava flow. Cumbre Vieja volcano, Tacande, La Palma, Spain. Eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma Island in the Canaries was the island’s longest-running volcano eruption. Huge rivers of lava and enormous amounts of continuously falling volcanic ash have very much transformed this Spanish holiday paradise. 7000 people have been evacuated; more than 3000 buildings were destroyed by the volcano. Strong earthquakes and permanent tremors ware traumatising the local population for nearly 3 months."
#8. Nature, Finalist: "Natural art" by Matteo Strassera
"What looks like a painting, with brushstrokes typical of an artist’s hand, is actually an aerial view of a majestic Icelandic river. The soft brush strokes represent the different flows of the river, brighter in colour where the water is deeper and tending to black where the water gives way to dark sand banks."
#9. Nature, Finalist: "Mother and cub" by Miles Hewitt-Boorman
"I had watched as this Mother and her cubs swam across a fjord to feast on a walrus carcass. Having fed the Mother and a single cub laydown on a nearby snowbank and curled up together."
#10. Nature, Finalist: "Permission to take off" by Ruben Perez
"Cuirassier beetle just at the right time of take-off, they are very abundant during spring and are good predators of pests such as aphids. In addition to being a good pollinator when they go from flower to flower looking for their nectar. For the photograph I made a first composition with a few herbs, the white background is the flash diffuser that is responsible for giving light to the scene. Then it was a matter of catching the right moment that took off as soon as possible so that it didn’t go too far out of the focus plane."
#11. Nature, Finalist: "Alone in the face of immensity" by Ruben Perez
"I discovered that on several ferns there were some sporadic ants walking around them, it was then that I chose the leaf of one of these ferns to create this composition against an overexposed cloudy sky to get the white background. Then it was just a matter of waiting for one of the ants to pass by the chosen place. After many photos and different positions, I was able to capture one of them where I wanted."
#12. Nature, Finalist: "Patterns in the sand" by Soumya Ranjan Bhattacharyya
"I captured this image of the scorpion in the sand dunes of Jaisalmer in a late monsoon evening. Rajastan, India.
The scorpion was lit up by a uv flashlight which made the scorpion glow blue as its exoskeleton emitted blue luminescence. The wind swept sand pattern was illuminated by a normal led flashlight at glancing angle. "
#13. Nature, Winner: "Goliath in lilliput" by Tom Shlesinger
"Decades ago, following a severe decline in the population of the Goliath Grouper, Florida banned their fishing, leading to an increase in the population. Now, there are new plans to reopen fishing, which may put their future in danger once again. Trying to find an interesting composition for this large, easy-going fish, one dive I got lucky — huge schools of round scads have surrounded the groupers, which swam calmly through the huge school of tiny fish."
#14. Nature, Finalist: "Eye on the prize" by Vince Burton
"Part of a project to photograph my local barn owls at night. This image was taken as if seen by the prey, kind of a prey’s view as the owl dives."
