Today, The Nature Conservancy unveiled the winner of its 2019 Photo Contest. Selected from more than 100,000 entries, an underwater photo of a California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) taken by photographer Tyler Schiffman of California, USA won the Grand Prize. “I had framed this shot waiting for a sea lion to swim by. After 5 minutes, one swam up and paused for a few seconds, I took 3 photos and as rare as it was, the moment left in a blink of an eye,” Schiffman wrote in the caption.
Skier heading down a mountain slope in Slovenia (Colin Ronald, Austria)
The People’s Choice award went to Diyanto Sarira of Indonesia for a photo of a waterfall in West Papua.
“The natural world inspires a sense of wonder in all of us,” said Richard Loomis, Chief Marketing Officer for The Nature Conservancy. “Indeed, at the very soul of conservation is a deep awe of nature. These photographs are a powerful reminder of the importance of sharing our vision of nature and working together to save the lands and waters on which all life depends.”
This year’s photo contest received a record number of entries: 121,774 photos from 152 countries. The grand prize winner will receive a digital camera package and a gift card from Delta Air Lines, while category winners will receive gift cards from Delta Air Lines.
Additional awards in the following categories were given to:
Cities and Nature
Jay Huang, United States
Yevhen Samuchenko, Ukraine
Robert Potts, United States
Tsz Ho Tse, Hong Kong
Landscape
Colin Ronald, Austria
Leigh Miller, Australia
Guilherme Gomes de Mesquita, Brazil
Florian LeDoux, France
José David Altamirano González, Costa Rica
Victor Grilo Lima, Brazil
Carlos Eduardo Goulart, Brazil
People and Nature
Le Van Vinh, Vietnam
Fabio Teixeira, Brazil
Apatim Pal, India
Anskar Lenzen, Germany
Giovani Cordioli, Brazil
Ted Somerville, United States
Water
Alex Kydd, Australia
Hao Jiang, United States
Alex Kydd, Australia
Michael Gallagher, United Kingdom
Barbara Rot, Slovenia
Wildlife
Fernando O’Farrill, Mexico
Raymond Hennessy, United States
Yaron Schmid, United States
Giuseppe Bonali, Italy
Jose David Altamirano González, Costa Rica
Sebastian Di Domenico, Colombia
To view all the winning photos please visit nature.org/photocontest.
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more sustainable. Working in 72 countries, we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit www.nature.org