Every year, the Natural History Museum holds the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, where people from all over the world submit their amazing photos. From beauty to fragility, these photos show animals in the wild in a whole new light. This year's People's Choice Award for Wildlife Photographer of the Year went to Nima Salikhani for her photo of a polar bear sleeping on ice, “Ice Bed.'' There are other categories in the competition, including two photographers from India who won for their well-composed photographs of wildlife. One person won by taking a photo of a firefly and the other took a photo of a tapir.
Here are seven award-winning photos from the 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year that will blow your mind.
light fantastic
This photo by Sriram Murali from India garnered attention and won first place in the “Behavior: Invertebrates'' category. This photo taken at Annamalai Tiger Reserve shows the night sky and forest illuminated by fireflies.
face of the forest
Photographer Vishnu Gopal announced the award on Instagram, writing, “I am so happy to announce that I have won the most prestigious NHM Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award 2023 in the Animal Portraits category.” Ta. He shared a series of photos from when he received the award and a photo of him receiving the award. This image shows a tapir living in a dark rainforest.
Here are five more contest-winning photos.
1. Edge on the Edge
This photo, taken by photographer Amit Eshel, won first place in the animal category of the environment category. It depicts a dramatic conflict between two Nubian ibex.
2. Tadpole Banquet
“Juan Jesús González Ahumada watched a toad tadpole eat a dead baby sparrow that had fallen into a pond near his home.” A post shared on the official Instagram page dedicated to the tournament. I Read. The image, titled “Tadpole Banquet,” won in the “Behavior: Amphibians and Reptiles” category.
3. Silence at the Snake Show
This image by photographer Hadrian Larague captures an “unexpected encounter between a group of gray trumpeters and a boa.” In a post on Instagram, the photographer revealed that the winning image was part of a series of 71 images compiled into a time-lapse video.
4. Golden Horseshoe
In the portfolio award category, French photographer Laurent Ballesta won the award. His photos show vibrant horseshoe crabs moving slowly across the mud in search of food.
5. Hippo nursery
This image, taken by Mike Korostelev, won the award in the underwater category. He used a drone to capture images of hippos swimming underwater.
Which of these images did you like best? Were you surprised by the award-winning photos of the 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year?
