Nature TTL’s Photographer of the Year 2023 winners

Welsh photographer Rowan Dear captured this shot of Blubber jellyfish at Manly Beach in Sydney and won the underwater category. This year, the area saw many more than usual, allowing the photographer to capture layers of jellyfish by shooting down from the surface to a depth of 5m. Picture: Rowan Dear/Nature TTL

Captured in Svalbard in Norway, this polar bear was spotted stalking seals over a period of 24 hours. French photographer Florian Ledoux was in awe of the animal’s patience in a seemingly bleak battle. This image was the winner in the animal behaviour category. Picture: Florian Ledoux/Nature TTL

Winning the wild portraits category, this photo of a California sea lion was shot by UK photographer Simon Biddie in Los Islotes, Mexico. Thanks to the protection offered by being a UNESCO World Heritage site and a National Marine Park, a no-take zone protects the entire food chain and provides a rich food source for these curious sea lions. Picture: Simon Biddie/Nature TTL

This photo of a jaguar captured in Mexico was the winner of the camera traps category. Poaching, deforestation, and habitat fragmentation have caused an increase in interactions with humans, and most of the time, it doesn’t end well for these cats. Picture: Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar/Nature TTL.

Photographer Bence Mate used a remote-controlled camera placed into a fish tank to capture this beautifully still image of a wild boar lit up by the Milky Way in Hungary. It won the night sky category. Picture: Bence Mate/Nature TTL

This image was the overall winner of the competition and winner of the landscape category. Norway’s Austfonna Ice Cap, the world’s third-largest, covers about 8,000 square kilometres but is retreating rapidly. The photographer captured the effects of global warming in action as a waterfall emerged due to melting ice. Picture: Thomas Vijayan/Nature TTL

Runner up in the camera traps category. This stunning photo of a Eurasian blackbird raising its young was captured by remote trigger at a cottage in the Czech Republic. Picture: Igor Mikula/Nature TTL

British photographer Lucy Monckton was the competition’s youth winner. She cautiously walked into the centre of the swarm, where thousands of bees were crowding over a branch. Remaining calm while hundreds of bees crawled over her, she captured this intimate image of them working. Picture: Lucy Monckton/Nature TTL

This painterly image of Rio Tinto in Spain was the runner up in the competition’s landscape category. The photographer used a drone to capture a unique perspective of this stunning formation. Picture: Florian Smit/Nature TTL

In spring, cute-looking robins become aggressive defenders of territory and breeding rights. The photographer was able to capture these two fighting in the sun and snow and was the runner up in the animal behaviour category. Picture: Jane Hope/Nature TTL

Runner up in the small world category. After spending several weeks studying a colony of carpenter ants in the Black Mountain Nature Reserve in Canberra, Australia, the photographer returned to capture this perfectly-framed scene. Picture: Yicai Chang/Nature TTL

In a window of just 15 minutes, French photographer Josselin Cornou shot this rare composition of an aurora from an Icelandic cave. After waiting for three hours in the freezing cold, the stars aligned at 3:00am to deliver this perfect spectacle. Picture: Josselin Cornou/Nature TTL

Shot in the fjords of Northern Norway, this orca hunting herring was the runner up in the underwater category. Battling limited visibility, fast-paced action, cold surface and water temperatures as well as swimming with orca, the photographer’s freediving skill allowed them to capture this wild image. Picture: Andy Schmid/Nature TTL

This image was captured in Rondane National Park in Norway and depicts a dead moth lying on the surface of a bacterial film. With its painting-like qualities, it won the small world category. Picture: Florian Smit/Nature TTL

A Great blue heron fades away in the reflection of a green traffic light on the coast of Florida. With decreasing natural habitat, these birds often interfere with humans to get an easy meal. This image was the runner up in the wild portraits category. Picture: Robert Gloeckner/Nature TTL

This photo, taken in an abandoned house in Germany, shows a common brown rat and was captured using a motion sensor. It was the category winner for urban wildlife. Picture: Florian Smit/Nature TTL

In Hungary’s setting sun, a young photographer spotted these deer on top of a small hill while out with friends on winter school break. The photo has a lovely composition and was runner up in the youth category. Picture: Ákos Őrsi/Nature TTL

A spider appears to be having its own disco moment in this image captured in Germany. Runner up in the urban wildlife category, the photo was shot on a bridge overlooking a traffic intersection. Picture: Simone Baumeister

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