This year’s Nature TTL POTY winner puts global warming right in our faces

It seems to be a time for competitions right now. We’ve had quite a few of them come up recently. This time, it’s the turn of the Nature TTL Photographer of the Year awards 2023.

This year’s winning image is a dramatic and alarming shot of a rapidly melting ice sheet. But that isn’t the only exceptional image amongst this year’s winners.

There are two overall winners. One main overall winner and one under 17s overall winner. This year’s overall winners are Canadian photographer, Thomas Vijayan and young British photographer Lucy Monckton.

CATEGORY: OVERALL WINNER & Landscapes
AWARD LEVEL: Overall winner & Category winner

• IMAGE TITLE: Austfonna Ice Cap
• LOCATION TAKEN: Svalbard, Norway
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Thomas Vijayan
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Canada
• CAPTION: Austfonna Ice Cap, the world’s third-largest, on Nordaustlandet Island in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, covers about 8,000 square kilometres. It is melting at alarming rates due to global warming and contributing to rising sea levels; a grave concern. I visited Austfonna Ice Cap and captured a striking image of a waterfall created by the melting ice. Although I had been here before, it was disheartening to see the sea ice had melted in June.

CATEGORY: OVERALL YOUTH WINNER & Under 17
AWARD LEVEL: Winner

• IMAGE TITLE: House Hunting
• LOCATION TAKEN: Staffordshire, United Kingdom
• SPECIES: Honey bee (Apis mellifera)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Lucy Monckton
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: United Kingdom
• CAPTION: On a walk in Staffordshire, UK, I was alerted to the presence of this swarm by a loud buzzing sound. I cautiously walked into the centre of the swarm, where thousands of bees were crawling over a branch. It was important to remain calm, so while I was apprehensive about having hundreds of bees crawling over me, their well-being was my priority. Relocation is a natural process that occurs when a colony becomes too big for its home; the queen leaves with a few of the bees to find another home.

Not everyone can be an overall winner, of course. The clue’s in the name. But there were plenty of other winners in the competition in various categories. Here are all of the winners and runners-up for each of the categories available.

CATEGORY: Wild Portraits
AWARD LEVEL: Winner

• IMAGE TITLE: My Kingdom
• LOCATION TAKEN: Los Islotes, La Paz, Mexico
• SPECIES: California sea lion (Zalophus californianus)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Simon Biddie
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: United Kingdom
• CAPTION: Compared to their female counterparts, male California sea lions are larger, have thicker necks, and possess a protruding, grey sagittal crest. During mating seasons, the males become territorial and protect their harem of up to 30 females. This male allowed us to stay with the group for a long period and was more curious about us than territorial. The sea lions in this area have expanded in number compared to other colonies in Mexico. This is thanks to the protection offered by being a UNESCO World Heritage site and a National Marine Park, where the no-take zone protects the entire food chain, providing a rich food source for the sea lions.

CATEGORY: Wild Portraits
AWARD LEVEL: Runner-up

• IMAGE TITLE: Fading Away
• LOCATION TAKEN: Dunedin, Florida, USA
• SPECIES: Great blue heron (Ardea herodias)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Robert Gloeckner
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: United States
• CAPTION: A Great blue heron fades away in the green light on the coast of Florida. The green light is actually the reflection of the traffic light in the water. With decreasing natural habitat, the Great blue herons often interfere with humans, especially fishermen, to get an easy meal. Purposefully, I focused on the green background of the bird and used intentional camera movement to give this image a fading perspective.

CATEGORY: Animal Behaviour
AWARD LEVEL: Winner

• IMAGE TITLE: Seal Hunting
• LOCATION TAKEN: Svalbard, Norway
• SPECIES: Polar bear (Ursus maritimus)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Florian Ledoux
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: France
• CAPTION: We witnessed a polar bear’s patience during a sleepy hunt on the ice in Svalbard’s frozen expanse. This male polar bear stalked seals at their breathing holes. After they evaded him, he opted to rest, vigilant and patient. As we endured the long Arctic day of 24 hours without sleeping, we eventually retreated, in awe of his resilience. In this Arctic symphony of survival, the polar bear’s unwavering determination left an indelible mark on our souls.

CATEGORY: Animal Behaviour
AWARD LEVEL: Runner-up

• IMAGE TITLE: Fighting Robins
• LOCATION TAKEN: Scotland, United Kingdom
• SPECIES: Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Jane Hope
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: British
• CAPTION: In spring, the cute-looking Robin as seen on our Christmas cards becomes an aggressive defender of territory and breeding rights. In April 2021, I witnessed these two robins playing out their battles in front of me. The conditions were challenging for photography – there was sun and snow on the ground, but the action took place in the shadow of the hide, so the ISO ended up pretty high, and exposure compensation was needed.

CATEGORY: Camera Traps
AWARD LEVEL: Winner

• IMAGE TITLE: Crossing Barriers
• LOCATION TAKEN: Solidaridad, Quintana Roo, Mexico
• SPECIES: Jaguar (Panthera onca)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Mexico
• CAPTION: This jaguar had been seen before, so I decided to place a camera trap in a broken wall that led to the jungle. I placed one of the flashes strategically to get the jaguar’s shadow reflected on the wall behind. Poaching, deforestation, and habitat fragmentation have caused an increase in interactions with humans, and most of the time, it doesn’t end well for these cats.

CATEGORY: Camera Traps
AWARD LEVEL: Runner-up

• IMAGE TITLE: Caring Parent
• LOCATION TAKEN: Czech Republic
• SPECIES: Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Igor Mikula
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Slovakia
• CAPTION: The next generation of the common blackbird lives in the bathroom window at my friend’s cottage. I watched their behaviour for many hours, and the presence of my camera did not bother them, even when feeding. No bait was used; I took the photo here using a remote trigger.

CATEGORY: Underwater
AWARD LEVEL: Winner

• IMAGE TITLE: Depth Perception
• LOCATION TAKEN: Manly Beach, Sydney, Australia
• SPECIES: Blubber jellyfish (Catostylus mosaicus)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Rowan Dear
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Wales
• CAPTION: Over the last few years, I have witnessed a large gathering of Jelly Blubber in Sydney around March to April when the wind and currents are right to bring them from further up North. This year, we had 2-3 times more than I had ever seen. One area had a large condensed gathering, which extended down by around 5m deep. From the surface, shooting downwards, it was great to get a real depth perception of how many there were and create this alien-like environment.

CATEGORY: Underwater
AWARD LEVEL: Runner-up

• IMAGE TITLE: Crowd Control
• LOCATION TAKEN: Skjervøy, Norway
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Andy Schmid
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Switzerland
• CAPTION: Every winter, enormous schools of herring migrate from the open ocean into the fjords of Northern Norway and attract large numbers of big predators, such as orcas and humpback whales. Witnessing orcas feeding on herring using the so-called carousel feeding technique is very exciting but not easy to capture due to various factors: limited light and visibility, fast-paced action, plus cold surface and water temperature. Being able to freedive and capture the action in an ongoing feeding frenzy in these conditions is difficult, but I managed to capture this female orca splitting a herring bait ball.

CATEGORY: The Night Sky
AWARD LEVEL: Winner

• IMAGE TITLE: Milky Way
• LOCATION TAKEN: Gyulaj, Hungary
• SPECIES: Wild boar (Sus scrofa)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Bence Mate
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Hungary
• CAPTION: I keep searching for new perspectives on photographing wildlife. This picture was taken with a remote-controlled camera placed into a fish tank. It was lucky that the wild boar stayed unmoved for the moment the picture was taken. In Hungary, where this composition was captured, the Milky Way is very rarely low enough in the sky to touch the horizon, and this phenomenon occurs only for a few days in the month of August.

CATEGORY: The Night Sky
AWARD LEVEL: Runner-up

• IMAGE TITLE: Strong Solar Storm Through an Icelandic Cave
• LOCATION TAKEN: Iceland
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Josselin Cornou
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: France
• CAPTION: This photo captures a moment of pure awe and wonder, one of my most challenging shots to date. It’s incredibly rare to witness auroras from this Icelandic waterfall cave, as they are typically visible to the north or overhead. The stars aligned with clear weather and a G1/G2 forecast. After waiting for three hours in the cold, at 3:00 am, the auroras shifted south, putting on a breathtaking display. I quickly took photos to capture the moment, using a 14mm lens with two exposures (0.6s, f1.8, ISO 6400 for the auroras & ~20s, f1.8, ISO 1250 for the cave at EV-1) to ensure noiseless shadows. Fifteen minutes later, the auroras moved north again.

CATEGORY: Small World
AWARD LEVEL: Winner

• IMAGE TITLE: Painting
• LOCATION TAKEN: Rondane National Park, Norway
• SPECIES: Moth sp.
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Florian Smit
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Germany
• CAPTION: This image was captured in Rondane National Park in Norway. It shows a dead moth lying on the surface of a bacterial film. As I looked through the viewfinder, it looked like a painting to me.

CATEGORY: Small World
AWARD LEVEL: Runner-up

• IMAGE TITLE: Point, Line and Plane
• LOCATION TAKEN: Canberra, Australia
• SPECIES: Carpenter ant (Camponotus spp.)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Yicai Chang
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Australia
• CAPTION: I found a colony of carpenter ants in the Black Mountain Nature Reserve in Canberra. I spent several weekends observing their behaviour. During a return visit, I noticed that they kept shuttling among the leaves of a grass tree, as if they were searching for a new food source. When a carpenter ant climbed onto one of the leaves, a simple but miraculous scene came into view. The ant, the leaves, and the focal plane seemed to be frozen in a fraction of time. This perfectly aligned with the theme I had longed to express: the connection between nature and the universe. Without any hesitation, I grabbed my camera to capture this moment forever.

CATEGORY: Landscapes
AWARD LEVEL: Winner

• IMAGE TITLE: Austfonna Ice Cap
• LOCATION TAKEN: Svalbard, Norway
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Thomas Vijayan
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Canada
• CAPTION: Austfonna Ice Cap, the world’s third-largest, on Nordaustlandet Island in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, covers about 8,000 square kilometres. It is melting at alarming rates due to global warming and contributing to rising sea levels; a grave concern. I visited Austfonna Ice Cap and captured a striking image of a waterfall created by the melting ice. Although I had been here before, it was disheartening to see the sea ice had melted in June.

CATEGORY: Landscapes
AWARD LEVEL: Runner-up

• IMAGE TITLE: Paintbox
• LOCATION TAKEN: Rio Tinto, Spain
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Florian Smit
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Germany
• CAPTION: Using a drone to gain a unique perspective, I captured this image of a trickle from the Rio Tinto River in Spain.

CATEGORY: Urban Wildlife
AWARD LEVEL: Winner

• IMAGE TITLE: When We’re Gone
• LOCATION TAKEN: Lower Saxony, Germany
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Florian Smit
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Germany
• CAPTION: This image shows a brown rat in an abandoned house captured back in 2018. I used three flashes to illuminate the scene, and used a PIR motion sensor to trigger the camera.

CATEGORY: Urban Wildlife
AWARD LEVEL: Runner-up

• IMAGE TITLE: Traffic Intersection
• LOCATION TAKEN: Ibbenüren, Germany
• SPECIES: Bridge spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Simone Baumeister
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Germany
• CAPTION: I really wanted to do some photography one evening, but without light, this is always difficult. So, I went to a pedestrian bridge that offered a direct view of one of the main traffic intersections in our city. There were many spiders on the railing of this bridge. Using an old analogue lens, I photographed a spider in front of the colourful lights of the city intersection with the many cars.

CATEGORY: Under 17
AWARD LEVEL: Winner

• IMAGE TITLE: House Hunting
• LOCATION TAKEN: Staffordshire, United Kingdom
• SPECIES: Honey bee (Apis mellifera)
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Lucy Monckton
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: United Kingdom
• CAPTION: On a walk in Staffordshire, UK, I was alerted to the presence of this swarm by a loud buzzing sound. I cautiously walked into the centre of the swarm, where thousands of bees were crawling over a branch. It was important to remain calm, so while I was apprehensive about having hundreds of bees crawling over me, their well-being was my priority. Relocation is a natural process that occurs when a colony becomes too big for its home; the queen leaves with a few of the bees to find another home.

CATEGORY: Under 17
AWARD LEVEL: Runner-up

• IMAGE TITLE: Walk on the Hill
• LOCATION TAKEN: Tápióság, Hungary
• SPECIES: Deer sp.
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME: Ákos Őrsi
• PHOTOGRAPHER’S NATIONALITY: Hungary
• CAPTION: We were bird-ringing with my friends during our winter school break. In the setting sun, I spotted these deer on top of a small hill. They were quite far away, but I managed to create a nice composition.

It’s a fantastic set of images and some very worthy winners! This isn’t much of a surprise as this often seems to be the case with the Nature TTL Photographer of the Year competition. You can see our coverage of previous winning entries here.