"Photography has always been a personal interest of mine that I became more passionate about as I started to travel more. I feel completely connected being in the outdoors in the natural world..."

Check out our finalselection ofEditors' Picks from theZEISS Photography Award 2018. Photographers have until Feb 6th to enter their best series of between 5-10 images.

"Naturally, new experiences and places come into play, and photography for me was then a tool to record what I felt..."

"I don't like the hustle and bustle of big cities, I preferto explore the wilderness. I like to be in many places at the same time- that is the way I try to compensate for the lost years of my youth."

"This medium has never failed to motivate me to create new work. I will do photography as long as I can feel a strong bond with my camera, and I hope it will last a lifetime."

"My love of landscape and solitude; the drama of light and weather over the terrain is a spiritual inspiration. It's rapid changes and the variety of changing scenes leaves me ecstatic..."

This year's theme requires photographers to present a strong series of 5-10 images that look beyond the ordinary and every day. Entries close February 6th, 2018.

"I love that landscape photography takes what might be a chaotic, busy scene, and allows the photographer organize it into something that is beautifully structured."

Welcome to our penultimateselection of thesingle images submitted totheOpen competitionof the2018 Sony World Photography Awards.

We featured many incredible photographers on our Instagram feed in 2017. As the year comes to an end, we take a look back at the 17 most popular photos of the year.