These Nature Conservancy photo winners show the magic and mystery of our planet

David Baratz, USA TODAY
·1 min read

The Nature Conservancy's photo contest returned in 2021 after a one-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The winning photos feature stunning views of nature including wildlife, underwater and landscape images chosen from 100,190 submissions from a record-breaking 158 countries. The panel of judges included a singer-songwriter and avid photographer Ben Folds.

U.K. wildlife photographer Anup Shah won the Grand Prize for a photo of a western lowland gorilla walking through a cloud of butterflies in the Central African Republic. A photo of fireflies congregating around a tree before a monsoon by Prathamesh Ghadekar of India was given the People’s Choice award.

Grand Prize winner

People’s Choice winner

Wildlife winners

2nd Place Due to a high water level, a giant field of sunflowers could not been mown. In winter it attracted thousands of different species of birds, mostly greenfinches, goldfinches and bramblings.
2nd Place Due to a high water level, a giant field of sunflowers could not been mown. In winter it attracted thousands of different species of birds, mostly greenfinches, goldfinches and bramblings.

Landscape winners

People and Nature winners

Water winners

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Nature Conservancy 2021 photo contest winners show best of Earth

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