The natural world as you've never seen it before: Photographs of wild earth that will leave your jaw on the floor
- These images capture the natural world looking awe-inspiring, spooky, fragile, cute, moody and hilarious
- One star entry is a magnificent picture of the Milk Way taken in La Palma's Caldera de Taburiente National Park
- They are all commended and shortlisted entries for the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
The natural world – it can be awe-inspiring, spooky, fragile, bewildering, hilarious, beautiful, cute and scary, and these incredible images capture all of these sides to it, and more.
They are all commended and shortlisted entries for the nature, natural world and wildlife categories of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards - the world's largest photography competition.
One star entry is a magnificent picture of the Milk Way taken in La Palma, Spain, in the Caldera de Taburiente National Park.
Magnificent is also the best description of Mount Fuji taken by Malaysian photographer Ann Ric.
One image that shows the natural world at its cutest, meanwhile, is of a European ground squirrel reaching for a dandelion. Equally heart-melting is the beautifully composed shot of a black rhino cow showing maternal affection to her calf at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.
Here MailOnline Travel showcases pictures of the natural world in all its glory, taken by some of the very best photographers around. Images from the competition will be displayed at London's Somerset House between April 21 and May 7, 2017. The winners will be announced on April 20.
A magnificent picture of the Milk Way taken in La Palma, Spain, in the Caldera de Taburiente National Park
A beautifully composed shot of a black rhino cow showing maternal affection to her calf at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya
A very rare European ground squirrel (spermophilus), reaching out for its breakfast. These cute rodents simply love to eat dandelions
This stunning image of Mount Fuji taken by Malaysian Ann Ric is simply described by the photographer as 'moody'
A hauntingly beautiful shot of a partially frozen lake by Hiroshi Tanita called 'Borderline'. The eye is drawn to the boundary marked out by the snow
A beautiful snowy beech forest near the village of Moldava in the Ore Mountains, Czech Republic
Photographer Vladimir Voychuk said: 'This is how the planet's fiery breathe looks. When a volcano wakes up, lava streams and their blazing glow are visible even hundreds of kilometers away. Observation of this phenomena in a relative proximity is absolutely breathtaking.' This image shows the eruption of Klyuchevskaya Sopka in Russia
Photographer Antonio Caputo said that he was on his way to the peaks of Tre Cime di Lavaredo in Italy when he spotted an opportunity to capture these ghostly trees
Cute alert: Wild monkeys at the walls of the monastery on Mount Popa, Myanmar
Scotland looks beguiling dramatic in this shot by Shahbaz Majeed. He said he grabbed this shot with his zoom lens to focus on the light hitting the peak in the distance
Baboons at the highlands of Ethiopia. 'It looks like they're just sitting there - thinking about life,' said photographer Bar Kaufman
Often incorrectly defined as jellyfish, the Portuguese man o'war is a siphonophore - a colonial organism. While the bell is completely harmless, their tentacles can deliver very painful stings. Photographer Enrico Villa said: 'When I took this shot, the man o'war was floating on the water surface a few miles off the south coast of Pico Island (Azores, Portugal). Back home, I looked at the picture and realised, much to my surprise, that I had got a shot with a very abstract mood from a 100 per cent real photograph. Very calm seas and smooth wavelets led to the totally unexpected reflections'
A puffin with a mouthful of sand eels on Skomer Island in Wales, left, and going eye-to-eye with a northern gannet off the coast of Scotland, right
A rare baby European ground squirrel in Austria tries to reach a flower for breakfast. 'Time visiting these squirrels isn't lost time - whether you get good photos out of the session or not. They are just heart-warming guys,' said photographer Henrik Spranz
Claw-some: A male polar bear in the Arctic, near Svalbard, pictured in August 2016
A solitary elephant is showered by light in a magnificent sun burst in Gujarat, India
Egg-cellent: A yellowhead jawfish with a mouthful of its future offspring. The eyes on each egg are clearly visible and indicate that the eggs are almost ready to be released. The father takes on the role of guardian during this period of incubation and will forsake his own sustenance in order to give them the best chance of surviving. Shot in Saint Lucia
This picture of a dragonfly perched on top of a frog's head, looking like a helicopter, won snapper Lessy Sebastian a commended gong at the Sony Awards
This eye-catching image of a lake and woodland was taken in the Bernese Oberland canton of Bern, Switzerland
A tiny hawksbill turtle back-lit by the setting sun as it swims out to sea moments after hatching at Lissenung Island, Papua New Guinea
A mother Atlantic spotted dolphin and her calf peacefully swim by in the clear waters of the Bahamas
A pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins in the Bahamas exhibit their cooperative hunting behaviour as they attempt to catch a juvenile fish that was hiding under the sand, left. On the right is a kingfisher hunting in Spain
These flamingos were shot on the shores of the Namibian Coast. Photographer Alessandra Meniconzi loved their 'beauty and elegance'
Paws for thought: A white-breasted stone marten leaps over some roots in the Czech Republic
Watching thousands of wildebeest crossing the Mara river is a sight to behold. It is one of the most daring challenges that a wildebeest takes on in his life as it battles, not just the ferocity of the fast flowing river but also the lurking apex predators. 'It is difficult to capture all the chaos and confusion in a single image,' said photographer Sonalini Khetrapal, 'but I have tried to bring out a small aspect of the crossing. With dust clouds seen from miles away and the splashing of water heard from quite a distance, the entire scene is full of excitement and drama'
Winging it: Min Ouyang was commended for this startling image of birds being fed
Ready for your close-up? This carpenter ant in Russia most certainly was
A herd of cape buffalo beneath the stars at a watering hole in the Zimanga Private Game Reserve in South Africa
This wondrous picture of a dew-soaked damselfly is a combination of five stacked exposures
What a buzz: An Anna's hummingbird and bees drinking from a water fountain on a very hot California day in 2016
A darkly enchanting picture of Skogafoss waterfall in Iceland, left. On the right is an incredible picture of a bird feeding on Punggol Barat Island in Singapore
How low-light can you go? This amazing image was taken in Liuwa Plain National Park in the west of Zambia
This hyena in west Zambia was captured using a remote-control camera. It's truly a never-before-seen image
The iceberg graveyard: These icebergs were captured in Antarctica and rise up about 100 feet from sea level. They were formed after an ice shelf collapsed a few years ago due to global warming. 'The scene was magnificent, but also incredibly scary,' said photographer Josselin Cornou
A climber on Belukha Mountain, Altai Republic, Russia. This image was shortlisted in the Nature category
Heavenly campsite: The Milky Way hangs elegantly over a yurt in Inner Mongolia
!['The Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island [in Canada] is a complete wilderness,' said Andrew Robertson. 'The only refuge I found on my two week trek was this ice cave at the foot of the Turner Glacier'](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/03/26/10/3E96B97F00000578-4345924-_The_Auyuittuq_National_Park_on_Baffin_Island_in_Canada_is_a_com-a-15_1490521083673.jpg)
'The Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island [in Canada] is a complete wilderness,' said Andrew Robertson. 'The only refuge I found on my two week trek was this ice cave at the foot of the Turner Glacier'
This was taken off the back of photographer Gordon Becker's jetski on western Australia's south coast. Water draws off a shallow reef shelf creating backwash that collides with oncoming waves. Here a wave explodes into a golden flare in the soft morning light
Blooming marvellous: A mesmerising flowery plain in the Sibillini Mountains National Park in Italy
This image captures a lone green tree in Nagano Prefecture in Japan. It was shortlisted in the Nature category
This image, called 'Determination', was taken after a fresh layer of snow coated the landscape
Purple haze: An amazing sunset in Valensole in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France
Fin-tastic: A bright yellow fish caught looking startled inside a beer bottle. A commended image in the open wildlife category
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-4345924/Jaw-dropping-photographs-natural-world.html#ixzz4d7ewdqxT
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