10 Surreal Images that Capture the Essence of Nature Photography

10 Surreal Images that Capture the Essence of Nature Photography

Photography as an art form has produced some exciting and revolutionary results. As advancements in technology drastically produced higher cameras, lenses, and film, these, in turn, allowed photographers to manipulate their images to fit their artistic expression.

One aspect of photography that has always awed art lovers is nature photography. Breath-taking photographs displaying natural elements including forestry, landscapes, vegetation, wildlife, beaches, oceans, and other components of the world around us have been credited with improving our appreciation of the natural world as well as creating a thriving economic pipeline.

Nature photography tends to focus more on the aesthetic value of the photo, thus, they often compare closer to art than most other photography types. Subsequently, Nature photographs are a favorite for publications such as travel and cultural magazines. Even websites and museums that curate art frequently have works of nature photographers in their collections. On the leading website aggregator of African art galleries, Aworanka, for example, there is a brilliant catalog of photographs that capture the African landscape with so much artistic expertise.

The World Nature Photography Award was instituted to recognize and celebrate the outstanding feats of nature photographers, with winners in 13 categories and one overall winner being crowned the World Nature Photographer of the year.

Although 2020 was a challenging year globally, photographers still produced some of the most amazing takes of nature ever captured. This ensured that the 2020 contest wasn’t devoid of heart-racing still images of animals in their natural habitats, birds taking flight to new horizons, and underwater splendor.

From Canada’s Thomas Vijayan’s (Gold winner in the ‘Animals in their Habitat’ category and the overall Nature Photographer of the Year 2020 winner) stunning capture of an orang-utan upside-down to create his ‘The world is going upside down’ image to the United States’ Patrick Nowotny’s frozen-in-time snapshot of two lionesses in a fierce territorial battle, which won the gold prize in the ‘Mammals Behaviour’ category, here are 10 of the most surreal images out of nature in 2020.

1. 



The moment a white Rhino is dehorned to prevent being killed by poachers is succinctly captured by Belgian photographer, Gunther De Bruyne. This won the Nature Photojournalism category.

2. 

Nature Photography

This picturesque black and white photo of Ulysses, one of the last remaining great tuskers, was captured by Harry Skeggs from the United Kingdom, as the monstrous mammal bore down on him, “demonstrating his colossal size and tusks”.

3. 

Nature photography

This fantastical photo by India’s Dipanjan Pal shows a glacial river flowing through the black sand to the Atlantic. It befittingly won gold in the ‘Nature Art’ category.

4. 

Nature photography

Christa Funk, the US nature photographer who captured this underwater scenery in the Pacific Ocean, had this to say: “Andre Fajardo and I went to dive early one morning. Sometimes you'll see a ton of life in this area and other times you won't. This particular day we came upon a few bait balls and the fish let us swim around them.”

5. 

Nature photography

This photo captures a mating routine between the dragonfly and damselfly. This is a conspicuous event usually recognized by the heart-shaped "wheel" formation of the mating pairs. 

“I was lucky to encounter several pairs during a morning walk at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. I approached quietly to avoid scaring the pair away, and positioned my equipment carefully to get both damselflies in the same plane,” Dr. Tze Siong Tan said of the process of capturing this image on film.

6. 

Nature photography

This is a photo of the effect of the first cold days of winter on Mount Cavallazza, Paneveggio-Pale San Martino Natural Park in Italy, captured by Alessandro Gruzza. The description of the photograph reads: The first cold days of winter have frozen the surface of a pond. The first snowfall has revealed its delicate beauty. A long shutter speed enhances the movement of the clouds in the sky around Mount Cimon de la Pala, in the Pale San Martino Range.

7. 

Nature photography

This Great Horned Owl has just jumped from its perch in the trees to begin flight. She has thrust her wings forward to gain momentum. As the wings connect in front of her it appears as though she has formed a perfect flying saucer. The image was taken near High River, Canada by Dale Paul.

8. 

Nature photography

This terrific photo by Nick Dale from the United Kingdom depicts a Bengal tigress with a catchlight in her eye as she lies up to her neck in the dark shadows of a water hole. Her name is Maya 'The Enchantress', and she has orange and black stripes with white patches on her head.

9. 

Nature photography

An interloper approaches a watering hole in the Serengeti that was already claimed by a small pride of lions. As the lioness came close, the pride attacked her in order to drive her away. This World Nature Photography winner in the ‘Animal Portrait’ category was captured by Patrick Nowotny from the United States. 

10.

Nature photography 

The highest honors of 2020 nature photography went to this creative capture by Thomas Vijayan from Canada, which he cleverly titled ‘The World is going upside down.  

“I had this frame in my mind so, to get this shot, I firstly selected a tree that was in the water so that I could get a good reflection of the sky which makes the image look upside down. Then, I climbed up the tree and waited for hours. This is a regular path for the orangutans to cross to another small island, so I felt I was sure to get this frame if I wait patiently. It was a tough task but the end result paid off. Borneo is a photographers’ paradise. I really enjoyed shooting in such an untouched part of the world,” he said of the experience.

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