A photography competition is celebrating the beauty and drama of the animal kingdom with a selection of stunning images which have best captured the natural world in the past year.
The Tokyo International Foto Awards 2020 features a number of captivating images highlighting the awesome power of nature.
Among the winners, which were announced this week, were photos of a shark hunting fish near Guadalupe Island, white horses running in the sea and a family of emperor penguins huddling together in the snow.
The awards recognise professional and amateur photographs from around the world, with the photographer of the year claiming a $3,000 prize.
Brice Weaver from the US captured a stunning image of a great white shark hunting fish near Guadalupe Island. The photo won Gold in the Tokyo Foto Awards 2020. Guadalupe Island, off the coast of Mexico, is known as one of the best places in the world to spot a great white shark. Brice said: ‘Diving with great whites has been a dream of mine ever since I could remember reading about Jacques-Yves Cousteau’
A sunbird in Indonesia appears to kiss a snake coiled around a branch in an incredible shot by photographer Budi Gunawan. The photo awards are celebrating the best professional and amateur nature photography in the world
Sundown Theatre by Bence Mate from Hungary shows a pair of backlit elephants during a sunset. Mate has previously won the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photography of the Year award
Italian nature photographer Davide Giannetti captured the moment a group of white horses galloped through the water in his stunning shot The Horses of Neptune in an image taken in August 2020
Claiming second place in the nature category was Craig Bill’s time lapse shot Empire of the Stars. The image was taken in Shiprock, New Mexico and is formed from over 700 20-second long exposures. The day to night shoot finished at 6am with Craig camping overnight to capture the perfect shot
Little Red Hunter by amateur phtoographer Lucia Drietomska was given a bronze in the nature and wildlife category of the Tokyo Foto Awards, depicting a fox chasing a mouse through the snow
Brazilian photographer Marcio Cabral’s submission Fireworks received a silver award for his image of paepalanthus wildflowers illuminated by a sunset
The overall winner in the professional nature category was A Sheep by Claudia Guido from Italy. The beautiful image shows a sheep in Tuscany looking directly at the camera surrounded by cloudlike bodies
Travel photographer Robin Yong’s dramatic image The Viper Strikes received a gold award in the competition, depicting a blue viper in Indonesia as it catches its prey in its jaws. Robin said: ‘Found in Indonesia, this venomous, island-dwelling snake is an aggressive predator, with its tendency towards fight over flight making it an intimidating presence in the streets of Bali, where it accounts for one of the most common causes of venomous bites’
Mayumi Takeuchi-Ebbins from the UK captured two beautiful purplemask angelfish spawning in the sea. The photographer spent a week diving with the fish to understand the fish before capturing their ‘love dance’
Emperor Penguins by Thomas Vijayan shows a family huddling together in the snow in Antarctica. Vijayan, who was born in India but lives in Canada, walked eight hours a day through the snow to track the stunning birds
Wei Fu, an amateur photographer from Canada, submitted Snake Vs Gecko to the photogrpahy awards, showing the two reptiles intertwined and fighting for survival
Childhood Days by Alvis Lazarus shows a nervous chick standing in front of its mother whose feathers are wrapped around it. Alvis said: ‘They spend all their time around mom and sleep under the belly cuddled by the warmth of mother’s love’
Tracey Lund from the UK submitted Dalmation Pelicans which she captured during a trip to Lake Kerkini in Greece. She said: ‘On this particular day, I wanted to try using my wide angle lens to get a different perspective. I was lying on a board that went out into the water’s edge. With a dead fish (locally sourced from a fisherman on the lake) placed at the end, these pelicans became inquisitive. The closest one took the fish and I managed to get some very interesting images’
Facing Sweetlips by Belgian photographer Kevin De Vree shows a group of schooling fish with beautiful patterns. He said: ‘Schooling Sweetlips are an underwater photographer’s delight with their bold yellow stripes and expressive lips. I found this school in the tropical waters of Indonesia above a beautiful coral garden and surrounded by glass fish. I came back to visit them at this dive site multiple times, mesmerized by their beauty and committed to capture them. To me the contrasting colors in this scene show how nature itself truly is a work and of art’
Submarine by Craig Bill shows a huge string ray gliding on the ocean floor in the Grand Cayman Islands. The image is one of six submitted by Bill which were rewarded by the judges
Misty Bromo by Rody Oei shows a man and his horse walking across Mount Bromo, an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia. The shadowy and captivating photo received a gold award
Noemi Krapecz’s submission, A Box of Sweetness, shows Coco the hedgehog surrounded by Asian pears in an adorable snap
Moldovan photographer Alexandru Popovski captured the dramatic moment lightening struck as a storm cell moved towards an island in the Florida Keys
Sun Kissed by George Garcia shows a female humpback whale slowly rising to the surface of the ocean to take a breath, as beams of sunlight shine down on the mammal through the water
Pet photographer Purdy Lo captured a number of dogs in her adorable series Bliss. She said: ‘When they close their eyes with a big smile on their face that’s the best and most candid moment’
Shirley Wung from Taiwan recorded the beauty of both the earth and the cosmos in her time lapse image showing cars racing along a road while stars illuminate the sky
Hsiaoshin Chaen captured a sight many long to see as she chased the Northern Lights for this image ‘Goddess Dancing All Night.’ The photos shows the flickering green waves in the sky caused by the earth’s magnetic fields. Hsiaoshin described it as an ‘unforgettable sight’
Japanese photographer Masahiro Hiroike submitted Milkyway, a stunning shot taken in Tateyama. Sleeping in a tent, he waited until night to capture the mountains and the stars above
Hungarian photographer Bence Mate submitted a number of stunning sunset shots in his series, with one showing a buffalo and antelope taken in Africa