10 superb pictures from Nature Photographer of the Year 2019

A cheeky duck and a majestic arch of the aurora borealis are among the magnificent photographs honoured by the 2019 Nature Photographer of the Year competition.

Greeting the sun by Peter Cech
'Greeting the sun' by Peter Cech was the overall winner in the 'Birds' category.
(Image credit: Peter Cech / NPOTY 2019)

The competition — which only started up a few years ago — may not have the same high profile or lengthy history as the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, but it still attracted 14,000 entries from 73 different countries.

The overall winner was this incredible shot of a pair of hares by a Hungarian photographer named Csaba Daróczi.

A photo posted by on

Csaba was taking a walk in Kiskunsag, near the village of Bócsa, when he spotted a colony of rabbits and started taking photos.

'After a while I saw them jumping high in the air, especially when they were fighting over food,' he explains. 'When I saw that, I realised that I wanted to take that photo immediately.'

Csaba returned many more times to take pictures of the rabbits, including this one — which won him the €3,000 first prize.

'This photo is proof of the fact that you don’t have to get an extremely rare or extraordinary species in front of your camera to be able to create a great nature photo,' said Keith Wilson, chair of the judging panel.

If you've taken a picture you think could appear on this page, you'll be interested to hear that from 1st December 2019 you can enter photos for Nature Photographer of the Year 2020 via www.naturephotographeroftheyear.com.

The website also has more of the images that won prizes or commendations in the awards — we've picked our favourites on this page to give you a taster.


La Dama Blanca by Basileo Stanislao / NPOTY 2019

La Dama Blanca by Basileo Stanislao / NPOTY 2019
(Image credit: Basileo Stanislao / NPOTY 2019)

Under Aurora bridge by Yevhen Samuchenko

Under Aurora bridge by Yevhen Samuchenko / NPOTY 2019
(Image credit: Yevhen Samuchenko / NPOTY 2019)

Fighting Siskins by Bernt Østhus

Fighting Siskins by Bernt Østhus / NPOTY 2019

Climbing to the sweet by José Juan Hernández

Climbing to the sweet by José Juan Hernández / NPOTY 2019

Hunt in the sun by Wei Fu

Hunt in the sun by Wei Fu / NPOTY 2019
(Image credit: Wei Fu / NPOTY 2019)

Wolf attack by Martin Steenhaut

Wolf attack by Martin Steenhaut / NPOTY 2019
(Image credit: Martin Steenhaut / NPOTY 2019)

Gorgon by Alena Shevtsova

Gorgon by Alena Shevtsova / NPOTY 2019
(Image credit: Alena Shevtsova / NPOTY 2019)

Under Aurora bridge by Yevhen Samuchenko

Under Aurora bridge by Yevhen Samuchenko / NPOTY 2019
(Image credit: Yevhen Samuchenko / NPOTY 2019)

Storm above the Triglav mountain by Ales Krivec

Storm above the Triglav mountain by Ales Krivec
(Image credit: Ales Krivec / NPOTY 2019)

Mallard Duck Photo Bomb by Paul Colley

Mallard Duck Photo Bomb by Paul Colley
(Image credit: Paul Colley / NPOTY 2019)

© Audun Rikardsen - Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Credit: © Audun Rikardsen - Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The best winning pictures from the 2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition — and the stories behind them

A soaring eagle, a shocked marmot and an underwater garden like you've never seen before are among the finest pictures

©Landscape Photographer of the Year awards - Ken Rennie

Credit: ©Landscape Photographer of the Year awards - Ken Rennie

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Godrevy Lighthouse, nr St Ives, Cornwall, England

Godrevy Lighthouse, nr St Ives, Cornwall, England
(Image credit: Justin Cliffe LRPS)

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We've picked out eleven of our favourite landscapes from the 2018 Landscape Photographer of the Year award.

Toby Keel

Toby Keel is Country Life's Digital Director, and has been running the website and social media channels since 2016. A former sports journalist, he writes about property, cars, lifestyle, travel, nature.