The ‘Nature Photographer of the Year Contest’ is a live example that photography isn't everyone's cup of tea. It takes patience, endurance, and an eye for excellence.

Every year National Geographic hosts this contest, we get to see some of the most brilliant pieces of art. This year, the grand prize went to Greg Lecoeur, for his underwater photo of sardine migration on the Wild Coast of South Africa.

However, an Indian, Varun Aditya, won the first place in 'Animal Portrait' category.

Varun defines himself as an ardent nature lover and a self-taught professional photographer focusing on wildlife, nature and landscape photography!



Dragging you deep into the woods

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'I shot this at Amboli, Maharashtra, India, on 24 July 2016, during a morning stroll into the blissful rain forest. Ceaseless drizzles dampened the woods for 10 hours a day; the serene gloom kept me guessing if it was night or day. The heavy fog, chilling breeze, and perennial silence could calm roaring spirits And there I saw this beauty. I wondered if I needed more reasons to capture the habitat, for I was blessed to see this at the place I was at. I immediately switched from the macro to the wide-angle lens and composed this frame.'

#1 Sardine Run

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#2 Life and Death

#3 Struggle of life

#4 Wild rink

#5 Pacific Storm

#6 Serendipitous Green Meteor

#7 Outside Facebook HQ

#8 Toxic Vanity

#9 No snow, no ice?

#10 American Flowers

#11 Wildfire at the beach

#12 Proud Momma

#13 Puffin Studio

#14 Friendship knows no colour

#15 Crow chasing Buffy Owl

#16 Approach

#17 Great Egrets Take Flight

#18 Jellyfish Feast

All the images have been selected from a pool of selected from thousands of entries and they sure are magnanimous.