Look: Stunning shots from the Nature TTL Photographer of the Year awards

Canadian photographer Thomas Vijayan won the title for 2021 with his image The World is Going Upside Down of a Borneo orangutan seemingly climbing a tree but on closer inspection is a reflection in the water below the tree. The Nature TTL (Through The Lens) Photographer Of The Year Awards celebrate the very best in nature photography, and this year more than 8,000 images competed in categories ranging from animal portraits to underwater and landscape.

Wild dog pups play in South Africa.

A group of grey langurs enjoy some family time.

Taken in South Africa, a fish is caught in the moment it is snapped up by a crocodile.

Portrait of the western lowland gorilla called Kangu, who lives in the semi-free conditions in Lesio Louna reserve in The Republic of Congo. Kangu is now twenty years old, most of which had been spent in London zoo.

A Crimson Sunbird female is seen refreshing herself with the water which is stored in the petal of an ornamental banana flower.

A barn owl peeks out the door of an old abandoned house.

As bizarre as it might seem to us, jumping up and down on a giraffe carcass and playing with the tail of a dead animal is as normal as it can be for a curious lion cub.

Peregrine falcon tackling a starling murmuration.

Fight in the Mountains.

Two salamanders trapped by a predatory norther pitcher plant.

Sleepy Polar Bear in Svalbard, Norway.

A rare type of Aurora over an alpine lake in northern Sweden, far from any disturbing light pollution.

On the island of Eigg at sunset, with beautiful colours and stunning clouds moving over the mountains of Rùm island, Scotland.

Blue morph Arctic Fox during a brutal day. Gale force winds, sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow made hunting very tough for this individual, so the hungry fox lay down in the hope the storm would soon pass so it could continue its search for food.

The shadow of an ancient Camel Thorn tree reaches out, like a blackened hand to the delicate tracings of the Tsauchab River; yearning for the life that once was.

Winged Family Members.

Patterns formed by mineral deposits trapped in lagoons.

A coiled eel photographed in the Phillippines.

The shadow of fallow deer sketches in front of the starry skies. Within the 45 seconds this image was taken, the movement of the deer covered different parts of the skies, resulting in a ghostly effect.

Geological strangeness on Uttakleiv Beach, Norway, with rocks that look like an eye. The shot is set against the beautiful green of the Northern Lights shining above.