Wild Portraits and Magical Landscapes: Spectacular Winning Images of The Nature TTL Photographer of The Year 2022

The Nature TTL Photographer of the Year winner has been chosen from more than 8,000 images from all over the world. From a scarred lion getting its close-up to a fish with a mouthful, entrants competed to secure category wins in wild portraits, animal behaviour, camera traps, underwater, the night sky, small world, landscapes, urban wildlife and under-16, with the overall winner chosen from the category wins.

A snow leopard scans for prey across the jagged peaks of the Ladakh mountain range in India. This image was captured during a three-year DSLR camera trap project in the Indian Himalayas. Photograph: Sascha Fonseca

More: The Nature TTL Photographer of the Year, Facebook h/t: guardian

Winner, overall and animal behaviour

‘We had received word about a serval hunting birds along the shore of Lake Ndutu in Tanzania so we raced over to see. Upon arrival, we quickly realised that it was in fact a caracal and not a serval, and it was hunting flamingos that were feeding in the shallows. Within a minute of arrival, the caracal started stalking and eventually was successful at hunting one of the beautiful but unlucky birds.’ Photograph: Dennis Stogsdill

Runner-up, animal behaviour

‘After wallowing in the mud, this majestic African elephant was walking towards our safari vehicle in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania.’ Photograph: Michael Snedic

Winner, urban wildlife

‘During the daytime this place on the outskirts is totally crowded by people going about their daily business. But at night, it belongs to the animals that come out to play under the streetlights.’ Photograph: Jan Piecha

Winner, under-16

‘Malabar parakeets are wonderful creatures – they are also called blue-winged parakeets. They usually flock together and are seen in huge numbers … It was my privilege to shoot this image from a bird hide. These two are fighting over a stump that had paddy grains as its feed.’ Photograph: Achintya Murthy

Runner-up, underwater

‘A male eastern gobbleguts carrying eggs in its mouth. When the female is ready to make the transfer, the male opens his mouth near her cloaca orifice, as she pushes the eggs out in a cone-like manner.’ Photograph: Talia Greis

Winner, landscapes

‘A thunderstorm passes over a sunflower which, against the odds, has managed to survive on a rubbish dump in the semi-arid Karoo region of South Africa.’ Photograph: Bertus Hanekom

Winner, underwater

‘A pink whipray splitting a school of bannerfish, shot against the setting sun on a late afternoon at the famous dive site “Tuna Factory” that is located close to Malé, the capital of the Maldives.’ Photograph: Andy Schmid

Runner-up, the night sky

‘This shot is a mixture of magical elements: the light of the moon whose incidence at the right angle generated a magnificent rainbow; the beautiful northern lights shot just above the lunar rainbow; finally Godafoss, a spectacular waterfall in Iceland.’ Photograph: Mauro Tronto

Winner, the night sky

‘This photo was taken during a trip to Kosciuszko, the highest point in Australia. It is also one of the best places to capture the Milky Way, in part thanks to the dark skies.’ Photograph: Josselin Cornou

Winner, small world

‘I managed to photograph this moth in summer at dusk. To keep track of the flight, I used an LED headlight, and I lit the moth with a flash. I made the twilight mood with multi-exposure inside the camera.’ Photograph: Tibor Litauszki

Winner, camera traps

‘A large grizzly bear passes in front of my camera trap. In the Yukon, Canada, a unique phenomenon happens every year – the bears will freeze their fur and stay out until the month of December, despite the temperature reaching as low as -30C.’ Photograph: Geoffrey Reynaud

Winner, wild portraits

‘When a huge lion looks you right in the eyes, you immediately forget that you are sitting safely in the car. Instinctively, you cower and slowly retreat deeper inside the car so as not to provoke a predator.’ Photograph: Tomasz Szpila

Runner-up, urban wildlife

‘A city of glow worms are populating this old train station, providing beautiful lights on rainy days.’ Photograph: Josselin Coronou