Nature, as captured by some of the world’s best photographers

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A sea turtle glides through the water as a lone diver propels herself beside it. The moon rises above a forest so snow-covered it looks like a drawing from a fairy tale. These and other finalists from the 2023 Sony World Photography Awards capture what’s magical about nature and the world around us. Judges chose the finalists from more than 415,000 images taken in over 200 countries and territories. Winners will be announced April 13.

Some of the best nature photos in the contest appear below. For more images and to learn more about the awards, go to worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards.

A female diver glides peacefully alongside a friendly sea turtle off the coast of Perhentian Island, Malaysia.

© Thien Nguyen Ngoc/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
A female diver glides peacefully alongside a friendly sea turtle off the coast of Perhentian Island, Malaysia.

Icebergs off the coast of Ilulissat, Greenland, lend perspective to the immensity of the distant ice walls, which stretch for several miles and can be as tall as a 100-story skyscraper. The glaciers discharge more ice into the global oceanic current than any other glacier in the Northern Hemisphere.

© Huazheng Hong/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Icebergs off the coast of Ilulissat, Greenland, lend perspective to the immensity of the distant ice walls, which stretch for several miles and can be as tall as a 100-story skyscraper. The glaciers discharge more ice into the global oceanic current than any other glacier in the Northern Hemisphere.

Sangay has been active for the past couple years in Ecuador, sending ash to cities that are hundreds of miles away. “I traveled to the volcano and waited for 72 hours before I could photograph it at dawn with the clouds and stars in the same picture,” Kevin Moncayo says.

© Kevin Moncayo/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Sangay has been active for the past couple years in Ecuador, sending ash to cities that are hundreds of miles away. “I traveled to the volcano and waited for 72 hours before I could photograph it at dawn with the clouds and stars in the same picture,” Kevin Moncayo says.

After the harvest, farmers in Japan burn the straw back into the soil in a field. From the air, this burning wheat field looks like a phoenix.

© Hajime Hirano/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
After the harvest, farmers in Japan burn the straw back into the soil in a field. From the air, this burning wheat field looks like a phoenix.

A red-eyed tree frog walks slowly through the rainforest in northern Costa Rica.

© Manuel Rodriguez/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
A red-eyed tree frog walks slowly through the rainforest in northern Costa Rica.

A pattern in a frozen lake in early winter in Tatra National Park, Slovakia.

© Filip Hrebenda/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
A pattern in a frozen lake in early winter in Tatra National Park, Slovakia.

During a game drive in Sri Lanka’s Kumana National Park, the photographer came across this magnificent Sri Lankan leopard resting in a tree, staring through the branches.

© Rajeev Abeysekara/2023 Sony World Photography Awards
During a game drive in Sri Lanka’s Kumana National Park, the photographer came across this magnificent Sri Lankan leopard resting in a tree, staring through the branches.

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