Home to some of the most incredible nature photography in the world, the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum has just announced the winners from their “Nature’s Best Photography” competition.
We’ve put 10 of our favorite images on display here. Large format versions of these — plus 50 more — will be on display at the museum through April 20, 2015.
These photos were chosen from more than 20,000 entries submitted from more than 50 countries.
They show mountaintops at dawn as well as life under the sea and in the most extreme environments on the planet.
Grand Prize Winner: A brown bear pounces towards unsuspecting prey in the icy waters of Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
Tin Man Lee / Nature’s Best Photography Awards
Photographer of the Year: Art Wolfe, who won this award for his extraordinary 40-year body of work, captures sunrise on the peaks of Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.
Art Wolfe / Nature’s Best Photography Awards
Youth Photographer of the Year: Jenaya Launstein, age 15, captured a tranquil moment in the life of a porcupine in Kluane National Park, Yukon Territory, Canada.
Jenaya Launstein / Nature’s Best Photography Awards
African Wildlife Winner: A solitary Masai giraffe is showered by light in a magnificent sun burst at Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya.
Andy Rouse / Nature’s Best Photography Awards
Animal Antics Winner: This red kangaroo was captured licking his forearms and paws to cool off in the heat of Sturt Stony Desert, New South Wales, Australia.
Jami Tarris / Nature’s Best Photography Awards
Art in Nature Winner: An emerald glass frog clings to a wild pepper leaf skeleton in the cloud forest of Central Volcanic Mountain Range, Costa Rica.
Gregory Basco / Nature’s Best Photography Awards
Birds Winner: An emperor penguin chick peeks between its two parents after begging them for food in Snow Hill Island, Antarctica.
Thomas Kokta / Nature’s Best Photography Awards
Oceans Winner: Rays of sunlight add a majestic glow to this photo of a green sea turtle in the coastal waters of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
Montse Grillo / Nature’s Best Photography Awards
Small World Winner: Two male Booted Racket-tail hummingbirds duel over territory near a red banana flower in the Western Andes Mountains of Ecuador.
Mark J. Thomas / Nature’s Best Photography Awards
Wildlife Winner: An Arctic fox on Wrangel Island, Russia gently carries a goose egg, a precious source of food for a nearby litter of pups.
