There are just a few hours left to enter National Geographic's 2017 Nature Photographer of the Year contest. Entries close at 12pm EST (5pm GMT) on Friday 17 November 2017. Photographers around the world are invited to submit their work at natgeo.com/photocontest in any or all of four categories: Wildlife, Landscape, Underwater and Aerial.
The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 (about £7,500), publication in National Geographic Magazine and a feature on National Geographic's Instagram account, @natgeo. The winners will be announced in December 2017. For details and official contest rules, please visit natgeo.com/photocontest.
IBTimes UK showcases some of the most spectacular entries submitted recently. See more at natgeo.com/photocontest.
Game of stars by Pedro Carrillo: "Juvenile sea lion (zalophus californianus) playing with a sea star in isolated Los Lobos, La Paz, Mexico. Many times it appears that a sea lion is playing with its food before it consumes it; they aren’t really playing with it though. Instead they are turning it into the right position for easier digestion. Truth is that, in the occasions I have witnessed this behaviour, they never ended up eating them. They just played a little time to quickly lose interest and release their involuntary play mate."Pedro Carrillo / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017Sneeeze! by M Engelmann: "Galapagos Marine Iguanas sneeze to expel excess salt water after they feed in the ocean."M Engelmann / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017Peacock, Isola Madre by Spencer Callahan: "A beautiful leucistic peacock on Isola Madre, one of the Borromean islands on Lake Maggiore in the Italian alps."Spencer Callahan / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017Silky Sunset by Wai Hoe Mok: "As the sun set in Jardines de la Reina, golden sun rays pierced through the surface of the water. It painted a spectacular backdrop for the pelagic silky sharks that came out to hunt. I was under a lot of time pressure take the shots. As the window of the golden light shrunk, the boatman hurried me to exit the water. Shark waters can be dangerous on the surface when it gets dark. It was also too dangerous to navigate around shallow reefs to return to the mother boat."Wai Hoe Mok / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017When Icebergs Reflect by Chase Teron: "Playing on the title of this shot, in the reflection you can see a profile of an angry face and another face straight on, yelling or screaming. The iceberg's beauty distracts us from the reality of the iceberg's internal angst towards the state of the planet. This image became so much more powerful with the reflection providing the true emotion caused by the destruction and deterioration of our planet."Chase Teron / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017Red Sand Garden by Peter Virag: "Aerial shot (taken at an altitude of 120 metres with a drone) of the interesting patterns of the Red Sand Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne. The journey through the Australian Garden starts with the Sand Garden where the expanse of red sand contrasts with grey foliage. On the northern hill, mass plantings of Acacia binervia and the Spinifex sericeus are used to stabilise the sandhills. The lower slopes are covered by a carpet of muntries (Kunzea pomifera), fruit used by Aborigines."Peter Virag / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017The wolf by Bernt Østhus: "The wolves are red-listed in the Nordic countries, as hunting has brought them close to extinction. This beautiful male was captured a cold morning in the eastern parts of Finland. The moment it showed itself in the morning was magical – a rare sight in the winter time as they are more commonly photographed in the summertime."Bernt Østhus / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017Meandering Canyon by David Swindler: "Utah's canyons are quite impressive as your walking through the bottom. But they are equally extraordinary when viewed from above. On this image, you can see the many twists and turns this canyon has cut through the sandstone. The bottom of the canyon is full or riparian vegetation and is a whole different world from that above it."David Swindler / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017Working in the Rain by Sunil Gopalan: "One morning, as I was photographing Atlantic Puffins on a remote island in Scotland, the skies clouded over and it started raining. Soon it was pouring and the wind was blowing the water right into my lens. While rain can be discouraging, I think it offers an opportunity for some diversity of shots. The birds kept coming back from the sea with mouths full of fish. I was soaked, and so were the puffins. But they kept on working, and so did I."Sunil Gopalan / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017Fish in the Air by Gary Zeng: "A double-crested cormorant caught a fish in a local pond. To eat the fish, the cormorant decided to toss the fish into the air."Gary Zeng / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017Fire in the Savannah by Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan: "On a cold winter morning on the savannah at Masai Mara. From a distance it looked like a ball of fire."Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017The dawn on the coloured forest by Takahiro Bessho: "A very beautiful landscape caught from the sky. When the sun started to light the top of the mountain, the sea of clouds were still on the surface of the mountain. In front of them, coloured forest and a hidden pond could be seen."Takahiro Bessho / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017Nature's Fury by Colt Forney: "An LP (low-precipitation) supercell thunderstorm spins away at dusk over the plains of northeast Colorado on 11 June 2017. We caught this storm on our way up to Wyoming to set up for the next days severe weather risk that ended up producing numerous tornadoes in Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado."Colt Forney / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017Coral Mouth by Shane Gross: "A super-macro close up of artichoke coral taken in, perhaps, the most successful marine protected area in the Caribbean - Cuba's gardens of the queen."Shane Gross / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017Heart Beat by Manish Mamtani: "Aerial view of a mountain road that appears like a heart beat recorded. I flew the drone from the top of the mountain to capture the switchbacks in the road."Manish Mamtani / National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017
