The most beautiful shots from the Nature TTL Photographer of the Year Awards

It hasn’t been a bumper year for photography.

With restrictions on movement both nationally and internationally, most cameras have been limited to selfies and the living room window, but a few brave souls still managed to get out enough to snap some stunning shots.

The Nature TTL Photographer Of The Year Awards celebrate the very best in nature photography, and this year more than 8,000 images competed for the £1,500 grand prize, in categories ranging from animal portraits to underwater and landscape. These are our favourite shots…

OVERALL WINNER: The World Is Going Upside Down, Thomas Vijayan

Animal Behaviour, Highly Commended: Dust Bath, Bence Maté

Animal Behaviour, Highly Commended: Fun For All The Ages, Thomas Vijayan

Animal Behaviour, Highly Commended: Floral Bath Tub, Mousam Ray

Underwater, Runner-up: Round, Zhi’yue Shi

Underwater, Highly Commended: My New Toy, Celia Kujala

Underwater, Highly Commended: Bluebottle Sunrise, Grant Thomas

Underwater, Highly Commended: European Whale Sharks, Nuno Vasco Rodrigues

Small World, Runner-up: Nature’s Pitfall, Samantha Stephens

Small World, Highly Commended: 3… 2… 1… Takeoff!, Christian Brockes

Small World, Highly Commended: Bee Wolf with Honeybee Prey, Simon Jenkins

Wild Portraits, Highly Commended: Snow Monster, Amit Eshel

Wild Portraits, Highly Commended: A Predator’s Playground, Charl Stols

Wild Portraits, Highly Commended: Kangu ,Tomasz Szpila

The Night Sky, Category Winner: The Eye, Ivan Pedretti 

The Night Sky, Highly Commended: Purple Skies, Bence Maté

Under 16, Runner-up: Fight In The Mountains, Raphael Schenker

Urban Wildlife, Highly Commended: The Door, Jose Luis Ruiz Jiminez

Landscapes Highly Commended: Bled, Tomasz Rojek

Camera Traps, Highly Commended: Moonwalker, Vladimir Cech Jr