After over 11,000 photo submissions to the 2017 Nature Photographer of the Year contest, our panel of judges carefully deliberated over which images were deserving of recognition—and which photo to name the grand prize winner. From dizzying aerials to stunning landscapes, revelatory underwater shots to intimate wildlife portraits, these pictures triumphed over the competition. See how the judges ultimately narrowed it down to a single photo of an enormous male orangutan, waist-deep in a river, shyly peeking from behind a tree.
Read more in "
This Striking Orangutan Photo Highlights a Grim Reality."
View the winning images from the 2017 Nature Photographer of the Year contest.