Nature images take awards at the International Photography Awards 2021

From gravity-defying canines to mesmerising safari silhouettes: Stunning wildlife images of creatures great and small are among the winning nature snaps at the International Photography Awards 2021

  • The annual competition — which is in its 19th iteration this year — is open to photographers of all types
  • The awards were stablished to promote the appreciation of photography and discover emerging talent
  • Dutch photographer Liselotte Schuppers won ‘Nature Photographer of the Year’ for her work ‘Beyond Horses’
  • Other subjects appearing in the winning snaps included tiny insects, massive gorillas and ‘singing’ frogs

Seemingly gravity-defying canines, stunning close-ups of insects and mesmerising safari silhouettes — these are among the winning snaps in the nature categories of the 2021 International Photography Awards.

The annual contest — which is in its 19th iteration this year — was established to promote the appreciation of photography, discover emerging talent and salute the achievements of the world’s finest photographers.

It is open to photographers of all types, including professionals, amateurs and student artists.

The title of ‘Nature Photographer of the Year’ was awarded to Dutch photographer Liselotte Schuppers, who dazzled the judges with her breath-taking monochrome equine-themed photo, which she titled ‘Beyond Horses’.

‘I am fascinated by Baroque Friesian stallions,’ Ms Schuppers said. ‘In this image I work with the horses in a studio setting where I have encounters with real personalities and their emotions.’

Seemingly gravity-defying canines, stunning close-ups of insects and mesmerising safari silhouettes — these are among the winning snaps in the nature categories of the International Photography Awards. Pictured: ‘Happiness’ by Claudio Piccoli

The annual contest — which is in its 19th iteration this year — was established to promote the appreciation of photography, discover emerging talent and salute the achievements of the of the world’s finest photographers. Pictured: Maya Maymoniâ’s shot entitled ‘Savanna Storm’ took third place in the ‘Professional Nature, Wildlife’ category

The International Photography Awards is open to photographers of all types, including professionals, amateurs and student artists. Pictured: Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz’s series of insect close-ups took third place in the Macro category

The title of ‘Nature Photographer of the Year’ was awarded to Dutch photographer Liselotte Schuppers, who dazzled the judges with her breath-taking monochrome equine-themed photo, which she titled ‘Beyond Horses’, pictured. ‘I am fascinated by Baroque Friesian stallions,’ Ms Schuppers said. ‘In this image I work with the horses in a studio setting where I have encounters with real personalities and their emotions’

Pictured: Teguh Aria Djana’s ‘Singing in the Rain’ received an honourable mention. ‘When it was rain, two frogs were found under the leaves. I am lucky enough to capture one of them opening its mouth like singing a song,’ he said

Pictured: Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz’s series of insect close-ups took third place in the Macro category

Wildlife photographer Bence Mate of Hungary secured second place in the ‘Professional Nature, Sunset’ category for his collection of safari-esque silhouettes taken in the uMkhuze Game Reserve, in South Africa. 

‘The key to producing a successful silhouette is exposure for the background,’ Mr Bence explained.

‘When exposed correctly, foreground subjects will be underexposed by ten stops, rendering them as solid black.’

And, he continued, ‘when low sunlight illuminates clouds, dust and water grains in the air, vivid yellow, red, pink and purple tones appear.

‘As this phenomenon is short-lived, each image required careful planning, and sometimes many sessions were needed to capture the images that I had set out to achieve.’

The ‘Professional Nature, Macro’ category honoured snapshots of some of the planet’s tiniest creatures — with its first place going to Germany’s Adalbert Mojrzisch for his close-ups of bug eyes.

‘If you look at insects at high magnifications, interesting structures and beautiful colours come to light. Especially the eyes are very interesting,’ Mr Mojrzisch said.

‘Photographing such fine details requires special equipment, some of which I developed and assembled myself. I use a self-made photo tube and microscope lenses corrected to infinity, mounted on a self-made rail. 

‘Each image is a composite of many individual images that are stacked and stitched together.’

Third place in the macro category, meanwhile, went to self-taught photographer Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz of Bilbao, Spain for his up-close-and-personal series of insects, all shot against colourful backdrops.

‘Macro photography allows you to see amazing portraits of these insects, damselflies, spiders, butterflies, beetles,’ Pedro said.

Third place in the macro category, meanwhile, went to self-taught photographer Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz of Bilbao, Spain for his up-close-and-personal series of insects, all shot against colourful backdrops. ‘Macro photography allows you to see amazing portraits of these insects, damselflies, spiders, butterflies, beetles,’ Pedro said

Wildlife photographer Bence Mate of Hungary secured second place in the ‘Professional Nature, Sunset’ category for his collection of safari-esque silhouettes taken in the uMkhuze Game Reserve, in South Africa


Kristin Schnell took third place in the ‘Professional Nature, Animals / Pets’ category for her series titled ‘Not Good Enough’. The images were all of animals who once suffered as a result of not being valued by their owners — but have since found happiness in a sanctuary

Andrew Doggett said that his series, ‘Exceptional Creatures’, was ‘a timeless ode to the most extraordinary — and often endangered — animals in the world.’ It took 2nd place in the ‘Professional Nature, Wildlife’ category

Pictured: a snap of a larval North Pacific Giant Octopus, captured by Sayaka Ichinoseki

‘Photography — the universal language in a still image — conveys a message to make us: buy, desire, transport ourselves to a place, be aware, rally for or against, stir us, inspire us, enrage us, even revolt us and make us want to turn away,’ said International Photography Awards head judge Susan Baraz. 

‘The photo is ingrained in our minds, and we are changed,’ she continued.

‘Thanks to photographers, our individual world has been expanded using their remarkable insight and vision.’

‘Photography — the universal language in a still image — conveys a message to make us: buy, desire, transport ourselves to a place, be aware, rally for or against, stir us, inspire us, enrage us, even revolt us and make us want to turn away,’ said International Photography Awards judge Susan Baraz. Pictured: one of Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz’s winning macro shots

‘The key to producing a successful silhouette is exposure for the background,’ Mr Bence explained. ‘When exposed correctly, foreground subjects will be underexposed by ten stops, rendering them as solid black.’ Pictured: one of Mr Bence’s shots


Animals (like these dogs, shot by Tianhand Zhang, left) did not only take the top spots in the nature category. Mattia Gorno of Italy’s shot of a dog catching a frisbee (right) took first place in the ‘Professional Sports, Other’ category

Pictured: one of Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz’s award winning and colourful insect close-ups

Pictured: ‘Underwater’, by South Africa’s Alfred Minnaar, took 3rd place in the ‘Professional Nature, Underwater’ category. He said: ‘Cruising Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia we came across something special, it is not often that you come across a bait ball like this and we were pleasantly surprised when we did. The fish would move in sync as you would swim through them almost like they were programmed and they would create amazing patterns as they make way for the person swimming. The elegance of my freediver Elle moving through the water with grace, the light, watercolour and fish movement truly came together in a once in a lifetime shot for me.’

Pictured: in ‘Cozy’ by Xu Cheng, a well-fed crab-eating seal yawns on the ice of Antarctica

Animals did not only take the top spots in the nature category — with Mattia Gorno of Italy’s shot of a dog catching a frisbee taking first place in the ‘Professional Sports, Other’ category. 

‘This shot was one of my first in this discipline, and I am particularly attached to this image,’ said Mr Gorno.

Disc Dog is a fantastic sport and the complicity of the combination is certainly one of the most interesting emotions to tell.’

Mr Gorno’s fellow countryman, Claudio Piccoli, was awarded an Honourable Mention in the same category for a photograph of his pet dog leaping through the air.

‘Dogs love running in freedom in the forest and I think we should learn from them how to enjoy more about life in a simple and pure way!’ Mr Piccoli said.  

Pictured: ‘In these images, lions, giraffes, or mountain gorillas serve as symbols of strength and wonder roaming the remaining wild expanses of our planet, evolving to thrive in places that push the limits of survival,’ said Andrew Doggett of his series ‘Exceptional Creatures’, which took 2nd place in the ‘Professional Nature, Wildlife’ category 

Pictured: one of Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz’s award winning and colourful insect close-ups

‘When low sunlight illuminates clouds, dust and water grains in the air, vivid yellow, red, pink and purple tones appear, said Mr Mate of his sunset images. ‘As this phenomenon is short-lived, each image required careful planning, and sometimes many sessions were needed to capture the images that I had set out to achieve.’

‘Egrets live in rice fields, lakes, swamps and tidal flats, and nest on trees and bamboo forests near the villages,’ said photographer Ling Jyi Chao. ‘They breed in May and June each year. At this time, they will grow feathers.’

‘Taken whilst on a trip to the Shetland Isles. To be able to capture what goes on under the water after a Gannt has dived was an unbelievable experience,’ said Tracey Lund, whose photo ‘Underwater Gannets’ made the Jury’s ‘Top 5 Selection’

Pictured: Bence Mate’s ‘Sundown’ captures two elephants silhouetted against the setting South African sun

Pictured: Jose Luis Ruiz Jimenez submitted a series of shots of Great Crested Grebes living in eastern Spain

Pictured: one of Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz’s award winning and colourful insect close-ups

Pictured: ‘I Still Have You’, by Michelle Dawkins. The artist said: ‘The move they performed during this shoot is called a foot stall, and requires a lot of coordination between the dog and owner to achieve. There was a little bit of waiting around for the right lighting with the sun setting and also the tide going down to get this shot. I directed the two to perform this move in the water when the tide was perfect. I hope you are able to see the focus and connection these two have in the photo’

Pictured: a giraffe is captured in silhouette in front of the setting sun over the uMkhuze Game Reserve, in South Africa in this award-winning photograph by Bence Mate

Pictured: a gorilla looks into the camera in this shot from Andrew Doggett’s series ‘Exceptional Creatures’

‘The great grey owl is one of the tallest species of owl in the world as a bird of prey it also has one of the largest facial disc. Spending time with this particular owl I was able to capture the mysterious and mesmerising looks of such a beautiful bird,’ said award winning photographer Lynn Emery

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post National Lottery Scratchcard odds REVEALED – you've got more chance scooping a prize with these 5 cards than others
Next post Perseverance snaps pics of Martian rocks that may formed via water