Winning Nature Photographs Capture the Gripping Intensity of Animal Life

Nature is scary at all scales. Look no further than the winners of the Nature inFocus photography competition, whose winning photographs for 2024 were recently announced.

Life of all sorts are constantly vying for another day on this Earth. Now, the Nature inFocus photography contest winners showcases the environs and interactions of a selection of Earth’s remarkable residents. From insect larvae and tiny seedlings to orca whales and sharks, the photos showcase life on scales small and large. The competition’s photographers captured gripping interactions between species fighting to survive while also addressing critical issues like conservation and pollution.

Supun Dilshan won the Photographer of the Year Portfolio for “Trapped Between Worlds,” a set of images capturing the plight of Sri Lankan elephants living on the perimeters of human’s expansive footprint on the island. The images feature both living and dead elephants, so be forewarned.

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The captivating images belong to one of the following categories: Animal Portraits, Animal Behavior, Conservation Photography, Creative Nature Photography, Wildscape & Animals in Their Habitat, and Photographer of the Year — Portfolio. There was an additional award for photographers aged 17 and younger.

You can see the full set of winning images below.

A wasp spider holding its prey. Photo: Roman Willi Water buffalo. Photo: Prashanthan Yogendranathan A bat returning to its tree hollow. Photo: Tibor Litauszki A tunicate salp carrying an ecosystem. Photo: Massimo Giorgetta Dipthera larvae. Photo: Omkar Dharwadkar Elephants in Sri Lanka. Photo: Supun Dilshan A leopardess on a tree. Photo: Seyan Hirani Ducklings on a pond. Photo: Jomtup Charoenlapnumchai Cranes at sunrise in Hokkaido. Photo: Hira Punjabi A boat moving through oily water in India. Photo: Sathiyaseelan Subramanian A temple in Madurai features a creature with big white feathers. Photo: Udhaya Sankar Alias Vinith M A mosquito’s wing. Image; Raghuram Annadana A barn owl on an apartment complex. Photo: Sarthak Agrawal A snow leopard in the Himalayas. Photo: Surya Ramachandran Blacktip reef sharks in Indonesia. Photo: Tinnapat Netcharussaeng Pheasants being prepared for the Adi tribe’s Aran festival. Photo: Hiren Khatri A leopard concealed against a tree. Photo: Prashanthan Yogendranathan A sea turtle (attempting) to eat a jellyfish. Photo: Tinnapat Netcharussaeng A drone captures a family of boars among the reeds. Photo: Lukasz Gwizdziel Silversides attempting to escape blacktip reef sharks. Photo: Angela Albi & August Paula A barn swallow in flight. Photo: Linto John A winter hare. Photo: Arkaprava Ghosh Geese over a saline lake. Photo: Tibor Litauszki The flight of gannets in Canada. Image: Rajan Desai Gannets in Germany. Photo: Maksymilian Paczkowski Elephants in Sri Lanka. Photo: Supun Dilshan Tiger beetle larva. Photo: Kiran Menezes A myna bird guarding its nest. Photo: Sarthak Agrawal Snails on blades of grass. Photo: Kai Kolodziej A spectacled bear in Ecuador. Photo: Jacquie Matechuk A land elephant hiding in plain sight. Photo: Danuja Palihawadana Newts feasting. Photo: Tibor Litauszki Elephants in Sri Lanka. Photo: Supun Dilshan Birds capitalizing on a drought to snag fish. Photo: Lukasz Gwizdziel A house gecko on a car window. Photo: Ramprasad Dutta A Steller’s sea eagle on an ice floe. Photo: Philippi Ricordel A mantis on a palm leaf. Photo: Satish H A killer whale swimming through rays. Photo: Merche Llobera A damselfly looking through a leaf. Photo: Salahuddin Ahmed A leopard peering through a window frame. Photo: Chaitanya Rawat Cranes. Photo: Lukasz Gwizdziel Elephants in Sri Lanka. Photo: Supun Dilshan An Acer negundo seed spinning through the air. Photo: Tibor Litauszki Two spiny tailed lizards dueling. Photo: Pradyut Kumar Das Lesser flamingos in flight. Photo: Rohan Shah A leopard climbing a tree. Photo: Pruthvi B A weaver ant hauling a dragonfly. Photo: Padmanava Santra Elephants in Sri Lanka. Photo: Supun Dilshan A devotee in a polluted river. Photo: Somenath Mukhopadhyay A tigress pouncing on a boar. Photo: Anirudh Laxmipathy Click to open Slideshow

Nature isn’t always so self-serious. Nikon releases an annual set of comedy wildlife photos, which you can check out here. But taken together, the images show just how much goes on beyond our human perspectives. From the deep sea to the miles of sky above us, life has found ways to evolve and adapt to new environments.

The inFocus images showcase a select few of the amazing species that call our planet home, as well as interactions between them. True to its name, it reveals intimate aspects of those creatures’ lives, but also how much goes on when we’re not around. Except for the photographers, of course.