STUNNING IMAGES OF NATURE IN ENTRIES TO THE 2017 SONY PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS COMPETITION

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For the 2017 competition - the largest in the world photographers from across the planet entered a record 227,596 images across the awards' Professional, Open and Youth categories.   In all, 49 countries participated.  Here are some of the most beautiful entries. 

Christina Roemmelt took this startling image of an ice cave in December 2016 after a long hike to a glacier in an undisclosed location

See more beautiful images

 

A tornado supercell storm rolls over the town of Stratford, Texas, USA. Photographer Maximilian Conrad says of it: 'I only had a few moments to find a decent spot. Its structures and color seem unreal and belong to the most dramatic I have ever witnessed in many years'

 

Oktay Subasi captured this majestic image of a rancher amid a herd of horses cantering through the dust
 
The scattered stars of the Milky Way light up the sky above the main highway through the southern Alps in the South Island of New Zealand
 

 

 

In Japan, an almighty killer whale breaches off the northern coast of Hokkaido, tossing silver shards of glimmering water into the air as it breaks the surface

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off the coast of Mexico's Revillagigedo Islands, a lone silkie shark illuminated by the sunlight lurks beneath the surface near a rocky wall
 

 

 

Rob Wilson explains of his entry: 'The sun setting over Yosemite Valley as shot from Taft Point while my girlfriend poses on the cliff edge during our road trip across the Americas'
 

Source
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-4315762/Sony-World-Photography-Awards-2017-shortlist-entries.html

NOTE:  The winners were announced later for what appears to be technique and above all human and social content, instead of inspiring natural beauty.  Political correctness seems to have dominated the criteria for the Sony photography awards.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-4428774/Winners-2017-Sony-Photography-Awards-revealed.html