The beauty of nature

Photo © Audrey Jeane

1st classified

Green Light Forest
by Shirley Wung


A mountain path in the middle of a forest is illuminated by a multitude of "sparkling" fireflies that give the landscape a fairy-tale atmosphere. Their bioluminescence is part of the mating ritual, at the end of which the eggs are laid. Unfortunately, pollution hinders the reprod...

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2nd classified

Sandstorm
by Hannes Lochner


Three hyena, a jackal, and two elephants endure a sandstorm on a hot humid late afternoon, while the wind picks up before the heavens open. The hyenas cool off in the cool water and get rid of parasites. The dry season is over and the rainy season is on the way, promising relief...

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3rd classified

Aliens
by Domenico Tripodi


During a spring dive at a depth of about 6 meters, I immortalized this small hydromedusa of the Pandea conica genus, among an infinity of tiny tunicates carried by the current of the Calabrian side of the Strait of Messina.

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Honorable mention

Droopy Eyes
by Hannes Lochner


During lockdown, I was fortunate enough to be in a game reserve and was staying in a house close to a small ravine. I noticed that there was a lot of movement and tracks towards a water source in this ravine. I set up a camera with a few light sources in and among a lot of ruby g...

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Honorable mention

Rainbow Colors
by Bence Mate


Bee-eaters gather before flying away to spend the night in their underground nests. I waited for the moment when the birds on the branch were motionless while the faded wings of the bird flying in the background refract the light like a prism.

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Honorable mention

Jellyfish Lake
by Henley Spiers


This body of water, once connected to the sea, has now become a lake populated by a million golden jellyfish, which spend most of their day following the movement of the sun. In fact, for their survival they need the sun's rays that nourish tiny algae-like organisms with which th...

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Honorable mention

Nature Against Poison
by Gheorghe Popa


The photo is part of the "Poisoned Beauty" project, idealing with the sad story of the village of Geamana, in the Apuseni mountains, recently buried by toxic waters and chemical waste produced by the processing of copper and gold.

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Honorable mention

Winter Planets
by Paolo Giudici


Around lunchtime I came across a pond lined with a thin blanket of snow that hid a deep layer of ice. A portion of the surface exposed to the sun and no longer covered with snow allowed me to capture the autumn colors still present under the ice.

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Honorable mention

The Enid Supercell
by John Finney


We intercepted this tornado-warned-storm near the town of Waynoka in Oklahoma, This remarkable fast-moving supercell changed shape and colours minute by minute in the soft evening light, the intense orange of the sand sucked by the storm's updraft, and backlit by the setting sun...

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Honorable mention

Amplexus
by Mathieu Foulquié


With the mating season under way, two common toads get intimately acquainted. Their reproductive embrace is called axillary amplexus. The smaller male clasps the female beneath her forelegs.

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Remarkable Artwork

Fireflies
by Marco Berni


The night has not yet fallen, the fireflies appear at dusk, in the blue hour inside a forest. The contrast between the brightness of the protagonists and the lunar atmosphere creates an absolutely lyrical effect. Nature manages to deceive the viewer into being in front of a wide...

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Remarkable Artwork

The Yellow Candy
by Pasquale Vassallo


A real artisanal trap created by local fishermen. The plastic container is filled with dead fish that act as bait for some molluscs, which once inside do not come out anymore. Often the container is abandoned in the sea and other fish are trapped in it, creating further plastic p...

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Remarkable Artwork

A Great Plains Spaceship
by Laura Hedien


A supercell thunderstorm in summertime on the Great Plains of Kansas drops some lightning as it prepares to go tornadic. The winds made it challenging to make photographs but what an adrenaline rush! These storms on the Great Plains feel like they are alive! The ebb and flow depe...

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Remarkable Artwork

Melting Ice Cap
by Florian Ledoux


In summer 2020, Svalbard archipelago has recorded the highest temperature ever since the start of meteorological records. The air temperature suddenly reached 21,7 degrees Celsius. The Aerial image witnesses it and shows us how much the Austfonna ice cap was melting. The average...

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Remarkable Artwork

Resilience to Global Warming
by Alessandra Meniconzi


The mangroves, one of the most threatened ecosystem, provide an important habitat for fish, birds, protect coastline from flooding and tsunamis, prevent soil erosion, filter pollutants from coastal waters and help mitigate climate change absorbing carbon and releasing oxygen.

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Remarkable Artwork

After the Rain
by Agorastos Papatsanis


Usually, at the rainy autumn in forests you can meet a lot of these edible and elegant mushrooms, Macrolepiota procera. Macrolepiota procera are "classic mushroom figure" and really tall (30cm)! I took this image with wide angle lens and artistic mood, at twilight, to create a sp...

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Remarkable Artwork

Wonderful Lake Magadi
by Shaozhen Luo


A beautiful shot of Lake Magadi in Kenya.

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Remarkable Artwork

Pelican Perspective
by Bence Mate


Extreme proximity, a huge pouch, and the perspective produced by a 180 degrees fish-eye lens combine to make this surreal image. The pelican’s bill, which is almost touching the camera, is swollen and colourful because of hormones generated in the breeding season.

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Remarkable Artwork

The Rage of Goddess Pele
by Barbara Dall'angelo


After a few hours of nocturnal hiking, I arrived to the shore of the Vulcan Kilauea in Big Island (Hawaii) where the lava entered the ocean. A long exposure allowed me to catch this incredible atmosphere: it seemed that the flames were wrapping up the profile of a woman. I like t...

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Remarkable Artwork

Praying Parents
by Suk Eun Kim


There is a baby tree in the distance. Overcome storms and harsh waves and grow. Parents always pray.

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Remarkable Artwork

Fire Show on the Snowy Volcano
by Dario Lo Scavo


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Remarkable Artwork

A Tree that Never Lived
by Thomas Vijayan


In first look, you will feel like it is a dried tree standing tall but no this is an earth pattern that has been formed due to soil erosion in Namibia salt pan. This is a kilometers-long spread pattern. I took this image from a chopper. For taking this image I flew around in the...

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