Image description
As a moonrise burns across the horizon, lights dance above the Old Man of Storr in Scotland. This iconic rock formation was illuminated with powerful lights attached to drones, which cut through the darkness to reveal the icy landscape. Blizzards howled for the majority of the night, leaving mere minutes to execute this photograph before the moon became too bright.
Shortlist
Marcin Zajac
Spire
A strange spire juts out of the barren landscape of the Utah Badlands, bathing in the golden light of the setting sun. Standing 25 metres tall, its otherworldly appearance is more reminiscent of a Star Wars film than anything you would expect to see on Earth.
© Marcin Zajac, Poland, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Barry Crosthwaite
Dune Ribs
A lone camel thorn tree is dwarfed by a massive sand dune in Sossusvlei, Namibia.
© Barry Crosthwaite, United States, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Ivan Padovani
Pawlu’s Field
Moonrise over strawberry seedlings in rural Bidnija, Malta. I took a shortcut through this field the previous evening and was struck by its serene beauty. I returned the following night, hoping the conditions would be right to photograph it.
© Ivan Padovani, Malta, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Li Jun
Dead wood on Yalong Glacier
The cliff above Yalong Glacier in Tibet is covered with ancient trees of various shapes. I used the branches of these trees to frame the distant glacier and snow-capped mountains.
© Li Jun, China Mainland, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Marco Capitanio
Maelifell
After years of dreaming about it, I managed to visit one of the most incredible places I have ever seen: Maelifell volcano in Iceland.
© Marco Capitanio, Italy, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Filip Hrebenda
Flying Over the Moon
The highlands of Iceland are an extraordinary area full of places that make you feel you are on another planet. There are numerous mountain roads (F roads) that run through the highlands, passing interestingly coloured volcanic craters that look stunning when viewed from above.
© Filip Hrebenda, Slovakia, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Charles Janson
Winter Drama
It was a very cold morning when I set up to photograph the iconic Torres del Paine mountains in southern Chile, with frozen fog filling the valleys and shrouding the mountain. A small herd of llamas entered the scene and I decided to include them – they were, after all, a part of the landscape as well.
© Charles Janson, United States, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Vladimir Tadic
White Desert
This photograph was taken during a backcountry skiing trip to Visočica in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I took this shot using a drone, hoping to capture the thrill of the adventure. Although I snapped numerous photos that day, the standout moment was a frame extracted from a video, which showcased the unparalleled beauty of the snowy landscape.
© Vladimir Tadic, Bosnia And Herzegovina, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Garrett Davis
Life on Mars
Sunset on hoodoos in northern New Mexico.
© Garrett Davis, United States, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Guangming Hu
Obo Liang Yadan National Park
The photograph was taken in the Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province.
© Guangming Hu, China Mainland, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Zhihe Yang
Kunlun Mountains
The Kunlun Mountains are a towering mountain range that spans western China, on the northern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It stretches from the eastern Pamir Plateau in the west to the valley upstream of the Qaidam river in the east, with a total length of more than 2,500 kilometres.
© Zhihe Yang, China Mainland, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Juan Lopez Ruiz
Sunrise on the Glacier
A panoramic view across Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland.
© Juan Lopez Ruiz, Spain, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards
Lisa K. Kuhn
Lenticular Cloud Over Mount Shasta
Located in northern California, Mount Shasta is a four-peaked stratovolcano with an elevation of just over 4,300 metres. Lenticular clouds form over the mountain throughout the year, and I took this particular photograph in spring. I wanted to capture the overall grandeur of the mountain, but also peek beneath the cloud where the mountaintops were hiding.
© Lisa K. Kuhn, United States, Shortlist, Open Competition, Landscape, 2024 Sony World Photography Awards