30 Of The Best Nature Photos From The Tokyo International Foto Awards

A pack of Greenland dogs, ready to take their journey into the wild. Ilulissat, Greenland.

Have you ever been to a fairytale? Now's the time! A forest filled with magic and fairies, the artist captured an indigenous Japanese firefly species flittering among the trees at night.

Waiting a while for the swans to come to the location on this lake, the photographer captured this photo in the perfect moment when the swan turned back, making the image all the more majestic.

Mini fireworks exploding at sunset on a field, the flower's name is Paepalanthus wildflower.

One day Neptune, God of the Sea, was traveling his domain in his chariot drawn by nine white horses, when, passing in front of the mouth of the Rhone, he met a farmer who was having trouble with a black bull: "Here is my best horse; if you know how to make him a friend, he will be an irreplaceable ally against the black bull. But remember, he comes from the immensity of the sea and he was led by a god: it will be necessary, when he wants, to let him free to come and deeply breathe his marine and divine origins. " This is the legend about the Camargue Horses.

Davide Giannetti is an Italian outdoor photographer. In his research for the perfect shot, he is devoted to highlighting the importance of the undertaken path, trying to communicate the authentic sense of the journey and the fascinating relationship between humans and nature through his photographs.

I made this photo with one studio light in a dressage arena. With such a beautiful white Spanish stallion. So elegant and sweet.

Attention, this is a fluff piece! But really, although this looks like a softener commercial from all the soft fluffiness, in reality, it is an ad for Tuscan Organic Tours.

Record spring, cherry blossoms blooming in the mist, dreamy and charming.

This is my dog named KAB. He is a 15-year-old healthy dog. I tried to capture the beauty of a senior dog.

Due to Covid, the world has come to a standstill, but not the emotions of nature. I remembered my childhood while capturing these beautiful chicks. I would just sit there the whole day watching them & capture those priceless moments as they unfold. It all started with a shy look & peek through mom's feathers. They spend all their time around mom & sleep under the belly of mom, cuddled by the warmth of mother's love. Tender moments while learning the art of preening, exciting fun in the water with siblings, vital lessons on food & shivering in strain. Childhood is awesome with mom around us to take care.

Looking at this photo, you feel the silence and calm emitting from the snow-covered hills and cotton-candy-colored sky in the middle of Switzerland.

Hunting, or playing? One could almost not tell.

A scene worthy of having our jaws drop: the picture-perfect tall mountains of the Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming, USA. This image was taken during the Perseids meteor shower, with a single meteor streaking down the sky, flashing in colors mimicking those of the Milky Way's core.

Finn was a bit camera shy during his session so we compromised.

Belinda Richards is an internationally award-winning pet photographer based in Melbourne, Australia. She is also the founder of Frog Dog Studios dedicated to capturing the human-like expressions from her client's pets.

Midwinter, the volcano Aso - a lone horse standing, sunbathing to gain some warmth.

A superb view that appeared between day and night.

An intime vision of a black sand desert in the Highlands.

Better than an action movie, nature's predatory side captured in a moment where the venomous Blue Viper catches its prey in Bali, Indonesia.

Incredible colors of the swamps in the late autumn. Kayaking at night is an unreal experience and these wonderful trees are unique.

Terrifying and stunning, the Great White opens its jaws to catch its prey at Guadalupe Island. The artist's lifelong dream was to take an image like this and to raise awareness that we have to think of how our consumerist behaviors are damaging the oceans - how could we improve?

Pure bliss, this expression says it all: relaxed, happy, and content. Purdy Lo is a pet photographer, brightening her days with funny photos of people's pets.

This is a picture of Shiramizu Falls in Shirakawa Village, Gifu Prefecture, taken in 2018.

An image of a storm cell moving towards the Island in the Florida Keys I am a landscape photographer, originally from the Republic of Moldova. After my graduation in psychology, I started working in the human resource department for a financial company. At that moment, I started to take pictures inspired by the beauty that the surrounding nature could offer to us; that activity was a great escape from my daily routine. When I came to Key West, my photography journey became more fascinating, as I was surrounded by the ocean, and water became mostly present in my photography as the subject, often combined with elements of human activity.

I was literally lying flat on the ground while I was shooting this image. Why I did this is because when we go lower than their height, they feel less scared being around us and for the same reason, this particular Emperor family spent a good amount of time beside me and I was lucky enough to capture some beautiful shots. On this particular trip I had walked an average of 8 hours per day in search of a perfect frame. My name is Thomas Vijayan, I am basically an architect hailing from Kerala, India, also known as God’s Own Country. I was raised in Bangalore and have now settled in Canada with my family. I have traveled all the seven continents for photography, which is my passion but not my profession. The big cats have always been my favorite subject for photography. To me there is nothing called "perfection" in any photography; every click to me is an experience, the more I click, the more I learn something new. I give more importance to quality than clicking pictures in quantity.

Sea lions from La Paz, Mexico.

A series of images exploring the beauty of water.

My images are memories of the times I saw beautiful things.

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska is the most remote national park in the U.S, with no roads. It remains virtually unchanged except by the forces of nature. These images are part of my journey into the Arctic Circle, exploring this majestic and pristine American National Park — one that will soon be opened up for industrial mining. This is a last glimpse of the endangered landscape.

A trip to Shetland and the opportunity to go underwater and capture a scene full of action: two gannets catching their prey together in a team effort.

Mt. Bromo, East Java - Indonesia

I've been photographing the deserts of the UAE for over 5 years and in this time many of the locations I've visited have radically changed. Many of the trees and shrubs that once stood have their roots exposed to the sun or are buried by the ever-changing windswept desert landscape. Unbearable summer heat mixed with almost freezing evening temperatures in the winter months, the consistent sandblasting strips the bark off the majority of young trees. These 'desert portraits' offer a glimpse in time of plant species fighting for survival in one of the world's harshest environments. Anthony incorporates a minimalistic approach within his photography and this simplicity shifts our perspective so the imagery is less about actual place and more about emotional state. In his photographs he uses negative space and an ethereal aesthetic to provide the viewer with a sense of serenity and calm, sharing the emotions of the moments he captures. His post-production style offers pastel expressionism to further sooth the soul, offering the viewer the opportunity of escape into the purest essence of solitude.

When the clouds cleared, there was Mt Fuji with a silky hat.

A female humpback whale slowly rises toward the surface to take a breath

This series is a tribute to the nature of Iceland, one of the most beautiful and wild on the planet, but increasingly overcrowded by tourism. In it I show some of the places most visited by tourists. I just hope that the government knows how to manage it and that its preservation and beauty remain intact without making constructions such as hotels, restaurants, etc. next to its main points of interest.

In the late spring and early summer, the fireflies in the mountains at night are flying in the mist, dreamy and charming.

It becomes a plum that grows its branches as if it were dancing powerfully toward the sky.

Tateyama is one of the snowiest places in Japan. This picture was taken at the beginning of May, but it was all snow-covered. I stayed in the tent and waited for the night. Fortunately, it was very fine and the Milky Way looked very beautiful. This is a panoramic photo using 12 photos. Six pictures of the Milky Way use an equatorial mount. Masahiro Hiroike is a computer engineer and photographer born in Tottori, Japan in 1962.

Scorching and bubbling, the Dragon's Eye in Iceland - a hot spring in the heart of the island captured from a bird's eye view - it looks almost microscopic!

Well, not the Yellow Submarine, but something completely ominous, different, and breathtaking... Stingrays swimming off the coast of the Cayman Islands.

A trip to Lake Kerkini in Greece opened a whole lot of photo opportunities with the Dalmatian Pelicans. On this particular day, I wanted to try using my wide-angle lens to get a different perspective. I was laid on a board that went out into the water's edge. With a dead fish (locally sourced from a fisherman on the lake) placed at the end, these pelicans became inquisitive. The closest one took the fish and I managed to get some very interesting images. The rest of the series shows wildlife taken during the winter, which creates challenging photography. I am a photographer that specializes in wildlife. My passion for wildlife has taken me around the world and there is nothing I love doing more and I try hard to show that passion through my images. I spend hours in the field and what some people don’t understand is that some feelings you get are priceless…it is a true blessing to be able to take the time to sit and watch wildlife, let alone photograph it. Sometimes it’s more important to experience the moment rather than miss it taking photos. “Photographing wildlife is an adventure, but most of all, a privilege.”

It was dark when we drove through the ebony forest towards our camp. Suddenly the warning bark of a lone baboon indicated a leopard was close at hand. Peering through the darkness, we could make out a leopard dragging a large impala up the trunk towards a fork in the tree. It was a struggle for the predator and twice both fell to the ground before the exhausted leopard succeeded in securing its kill.

San Francisco Bay Wetland—Once home to an array of wildlife and plants, the San Francisco Bay Area salt ponds are now a world of blazing colors and patterns when viewed from above. Their dark past connected to the manufacture of napalm is part of the complicated story of a thriving land in transition—a healing landscape that unites many worlds as one.

I was observing some birds at a city park, trying to learn about sunbirds, and I saw it always come to the flower and hover. I had an idea to take the picture, and I tried to put some nectar on the flower. When the bird came to the flower that I wanted, I put my camera near the flower and used a wireless remote, and when the bird came, I took the picture.

Recording the spectacular picture of horsemen running horses at sunset.

An incredible cloud shaped like a flying saucer is positioned over El Chaltén (Mount FitzRoy) in Argentina. The strong winds of Patagonia help these climatic phenomena to be observed in the mountain ranges and high mountain peaks.

Sundown in Africa - the composition of these images requires careful planning, as these colors seen in the image only appear at a certain period of time, for a short while.

Taken with a drone from high above, a small, footprint-shaped island, with a perfect frame from the water around it in the Alps.

A haphazard photo when the sun was going down in Manarola, Italy - after walking all day through the Cinque Terre vineyards, the photographer arrived just in time for a splendid sunset.

When dinner time arrives, the black-naped monarch feeds its young, usually with butterflies, grasshoppers, and spiders.

I shot these birds on the island of Hokkaido in early 2020. They struck me with their aesthetics and grace. Japanese cranes looked very graphic on the white snow. Despite the cold, I couldn't take my eyes off them.

This image was captured on a beautiful misty day in Clonakilty. I pass this tree every day and I just had to wait for the right conditions.

I am a Fine Art Photographer based in Clonakilty, West Cork, Ireland on the Wild Atlantic Way, where I am inspired every day by the beautiful Irish coastline. Photography is my escape and my passion.

Climate change is affecting the Arctic faster than anywhere else in the world. I was very lucky to witness and capture the meltwater that was cascading down from the ice and into the ocean. Austfonna Ice Cap, which is located in Svalbard, is Europe's third-largest glacier. It is definitely the most spectacular I've ever come across.

A rare image of the Milky Way above a sinkhole in the Dead Sea, Israel. The sinkholes are always forming and disappearing.

In the twilight zone is a project where I explore dark wildlife images as a means to visualize feelings. The goal is to turn it into a book describing my personal journey from a successful middle manager, through a hard hit into the wall due to lots of stress and then back up again and instead of running my own company.

Spiral orb webs - vertical or horizontal, dome-shaped or hexagonal, with mysterious writings, or delicate decorations, in peace, in rain, in storm - I spent these 6 pandemic months in the Hong Kong wild, taking ONE-SHOT photos of how spiders spin silk, weave, and embellish their webs. On these silky shelters, the spiders can hide, or wait or attack, or feed or rest. Simultaneously, in order to survive, and to protect themselves from outside attack, they have to be trapped behind their own nets day after day, night after night. That's life! That's our lives?

Utterly mesmerizing, this panoramic photograph won the hearts of the jury panel of TIFA for its immense depth and colors. The image is a long exposure still time-lapse Day-To-Night project consisting of over 700 exposures.

During the rainy season, the beautiful flamingos adorn the Rift Valley with their long legs, long neck, black beak, and pink feathery coats. It is indeed feasting to our eyes; we feel like we are at a beauty pageant. Unfortunately, recent climate changes aren't favorable for these delicate beauties, and their numbers are gradually decreasing. Something different about these birds is their feeding style, they feed with their head upside down. The lower beak is fixed, and the top one is able to move which is the opposite of most birds. My name is Thomas Vijayan, I am basically an architect hailing from Kerala, India, also known as God’s Own Country. I was raised in Bangalore and have now settled in Canada with my family. I have traveled all the seven continents for photography, which is my passion but not my profession. The big cats have always been my favorite subject for photography. To me there is nothing called "perfection" in any photography; every click to me is an experience, the more I click, the more I learn something new. I give more importance to quality than clicking pictures in quantity.

Humans' relationship with other species is becoming increasingly destructive for those imprisoned or pushed out of human life. Today, this relationship, which has focused on discussions on animal rights and animal welfare in a wide range from industrial meat production to experimental animals, is increasingly being discussed. It is possible to see the human-animal relationship's complex dimensions in the animals' eyes brought to Van Yüzüncü Yil University Animal Hospital, where all kinds of animals are treated.

When low sunlight illuminates clouds, dust and water grains in the air, vivid yellow, red, pink and purple tones appear. As this phenomenon is short-lived, each image required careful planning, and sometimes many sessions were needed to capture the images that I had set out to achieve. Wildlife photographer, born in Hungary, 1985. In 2010 he won the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photography of the Year award in London. He is the most effective photographer in the 53-year-old history of the competition, being the only contestant winning the first prize in both the young and adult categories. In 2005 he experimented the one-way glass photography technique, making fundamental changes in hide photography practice. This technique has been widely used all over the world, and most hides are equipped with such glasses.

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska is the most remote national park in the U.S, with no roads. It remains virtually unchanged except by the forces of nature. These images are part of my journey into the Arctic Circle, exploring this majestic and pristine American National Park — one that will soon be opened up for industrial mining. This is a last glimpse of the endangered landscape.

When I traveled to Hokkaido, there was nothing but peace and beauty here. And I saw the Christmas tree standing lonely in the snowfield. Stronger than anything, but lonely. Same as me. I walked through the woods and watched the sun travel across the treetops, I found myself waiting for that perfect moment. Suddenly all the glitter and sparkles appeared right in front of me, just like a fully decked-out Christmas tree in the snow. I grasped the moment with my camera, all those poetic pieces of shadows in the snow.

As humans, we view aging in an unhealthy way: wrinkles are bad and as an older person, you are so easily dismissed. When we view nature, in this case, the world of trees, we find an intrinsic beauty that accompanies aging wood. The beauty of form and shape is inescapable. I have attempted to capture this beauty through my series of black and white photos emphasizing the wonderful grain structure that is heightened by water, air, and time.

The strange cloud flow was like a time trip to another time in another world.

A collaborative project based on 50 yrs of observations by polymath, art critic & pioneer of environmentalism, John Ruskin. Embracing a multidisciplinary practice, incorporating B&W photography taken from a single window, overlaid with pictures of paintings in the tradition of the Pictorialist movement into a single body of work. Ruskin warned of the approaching "storm clouds," Man poisoning the land, sky, a premonition of a decaying world. By combining these two aesthetics, confusing & challenging viewers to see beyond the objective, the obvious, to arrive at the subjective landscape.

A way to show what the photographer's dogs see and the way they feel in the everyday life: happiness, fun, and love, a cheerful and colorful photo series introducing them to the world.

When the flamingos fly over Lake Magadi in Kenya, we can see magical forms and colors intersect each other. Emre Kuheylan, member of the esteemed jury panel in the Tokyo International Foto Awards, said of the photo: "The mixture of the lake structure and birds create a unique, painting-like landscape."

How can we immortalize flowers? By freezing them! The photographer's husband started bringing her flowers bought from old ladies, and in order to document them, the artist took to freezing them and taking images to preserve their beauty.

A beautiful formation in Northern Arizona, USA - the sky providing a perfect contrast between the swirls of rock.

I'm a painter and photographer. I studied at the Fine Arts Department of Nicolaus Copernicus University (UMK) in Torun (Poland). I'm a former member of the Association of Polish Nature Photographers (ZPFP), the Association of Polish Artists, and Designers (ZPAP), and the Association of Polish Pastelists (SPP). I've taken part in over 150 exhibitions.