Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

The 11th annual International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition has announced the winners of its 2024 awards, showcasing stunning imagery from around the world. Photographers competed in various categories, including the coveted Landscape Photographer of the Year, requiring a portfolio of at least four images, and Landscape Photograph of the Year, recognizing the power of a single captivating shot.

This year’s competition saw Canadian photographer Andrew Mielzynski, an amateur with a deep connection to the natural environment, claim the top prize for his portfolio of stark images with simple color palettes. Ryohei Irie from Japan captured the Landscape Photograph of the Year award with a mesmerizing image of fireflies illuminating a forest.

Beyond the overall winners, the competition presented awards in specific categories, including Black and White, Aerial, Snow and Ice, and Forest, along with at-large winners. In addition to the overall and category winners, we’ve included several of our favorite photos from the 202 photographs recognized this year. You can visit the competition’s website to see all the winning images or to download its 2024 eBook.

Landscape Photographer of the Year: 1st place

Photographer: Andrew Mielzynski, Canada

Subject and location: Cono de Arita in the Salar de Arizaro, Atacama Desert in Argentina

Description: The Cono is a perfectly cone-shaped volcano at 3,690 meters above sea level. It’s very graphic due to the contrast between the dark, perfectly formed cone and the bed of white salt that is found at its base.

Copyright Andrew Mielzynski / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photographer of the Year: 1st place

Photographer: Andrew Mielzynski, Canada

Subject and location: Winter Cottonwoods, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Description: During the pandemic, I went out for a walk at a local park during a fierce winter storm. I ran across this scene. It seemed very chaotic, with many layers of trees. I loved how the snow, driven by high winds, was embedded into the bark of the trunks. The snow on the bark created a textural contrast that adds detail and interest to the trees. I took a few frames, trying to simplify the scene in front of me and settled on this one, loving the tones, the depth, the order and the minimalism. Even in a chaotic scene, there seems to be a sense of balance that feels orderly and pleasing.

Copyright Andrew Mielzynski / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photographer of the Year: 1st place

Photographer: Andrew Mielzynski, Canada

Subject and location: Found in a roadside ditch near Heathcote, Ontario, Canada

Description: After a melt, we had a flash freeze with extremely cold temperatures and a clear blue sky. I was driving by a ditch on the side of a road that had been filled with water and had to stop and look (as we photographers do, can’t pass a ditch without investigating). This is what I found. Great textures and patterns, tones and flow, with lovely graphic lines creating a dynamic, abstract designs. I love this type of work – it’s so much fun, yet challenging to find just the right composition.

Copyright Andrew Mielzynski / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photographer of the Year: 2nd place

Photographer: Ignacio Palacios, Australia

Subject and location: Pumice Field, La Puna, Argentina

Copyright Ignacio Palacios / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photographer of the Year: 2nd place

Photographer: Ignacio Palacios, Australia

Subject and location: Seven Colors Mountain, Siloli Desert, Bolivian Altiplano

Copyright Ignacio Palacios / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photographer of the Year: 2nd place

Photographer: Ignacio Palacios, Australia

Subject and location: Arita Cone, La Puna, Argentina

Copyright Ignacio Palacios / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photographer of the Year: 3rd place

Photographer: Gheorghe Popa, Romania

Subject and location: Early Autumn, Vânători Neamț Natural Park, Romania

Copyright Gheorghe Popa / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photographer of the Year: 3rd place

Photographer: Gheorghe Popa, Romania

Subject and location: Poisoned Beauty, Geamăna, Apuseni Mountains, Romania

Copyright Gheorghe Popa / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photographer of the Year: 3rd place

Photographer: Gheorghe Popa, Romania

Subject and location: Whispers of the Sunken Trees Cuejdel Lake, Romania

Copyright Gheorghe Popa / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photograph of the Year: 1st place

Photographer: Ryohei Irie, Japan

Subject and location: Traces of Light, Ichinomata, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan

Description: The Landscape Photograph of the Year Award went to Ryohei Irie of Japan. He likes the mysterious atmosphere created by the standing dead trees and firefly light. “I have been visiting this Subject and location for several years during the firefly season, and it is an interesting place because the intensity and length of the firefly light and the Subject and location where the fireflies fly vary greatly, depending on the year and time of day, resulting in completely different works, even when photographed in the same way.”

Copyright Ryohei Irie / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photograph of the Year: 2nd place

Photographer: Justinus Sukotjo, Indonesia

Subject and location: Mother Care Framing, Walakiri Beach, Sumba Island, Indonesia

Copyright Justinus Sukotjo / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photograph of the Year: 3rd place

Photographer: Himadri Bhuyan, India

Subject and location: The Flow, Sohra, Meghalaya, India

Copyright Himadri Bhuyan / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

The Black and White Award

Photographer: J. Fritz Rumpf, United States

Award: The Black and White Award 2024

Subject and location: White Tie Affair. Death Valley National Park, California, USA

Copyright J. Fritz Rumpf / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

The Aerial Award

Photographer: Benjamin Barakat, Switzerland

Award: The Aerial Award 2024

Subject and location: The Final Dune, Namibia

Copyright Benjamin Barakat / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

The Snow and Ice Award

Photographer: Jeroen van Nieuwenhove, Iceland

Award: The Snow and Ice Award 2024

Subject and location: Isþyrlu – Ice Swirl, Scoresbysund, Greenland

Copyright Jeroen van Nieuwenhove / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

The Forest Award

Photographer: Shirley Wung, Taiwan

Award: The Forest Award 2024

Subject and location: Fireflies flying in the Misty Mountains, Wufeng Township, Hsinchu, Taiwan

Copyright Shirley Wung / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

The Exciting Sky Award

Photographer: Federico Delucchi, Italy

Award: The Exciting Sky Award 2024

Subject and location: Aurora, meteor shower and other cool stuff, Rocca la Meja, Italy

Copyright Federico Delucchi / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Other top entries

Photographer: Laura Bennet, United States

Subject and location: Sumba Island, Indonesia

Copyright Laura Bennet / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Other top entries

Photographer: William Preite, Italy

Subject and location: Pale di San Martino, Falcade, Dolomites, Italy

Copyright William Preite / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Other top entries

Photographer: Siegfried Makedanz, Germany

Subject and location: Sandfellsjökull Glacier Lagoon, Southern Iceland

Copyright Siegfried Makedanz / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Other top entries

Photographer: Sabine Weise, Germany

Subject and location: Moonscape Overlook, Utah Badlands, USA

Copyright Sabine Weise / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Other top entries

Photographer: Yuriy Vantowski, United States

Subject and location: Mount Bromo, East Java, Indonesia

Copyright Yuriy Vantowski / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Other top entries

Photographer: Tanay Das, India

Subject and location: Kistwa, Himalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Copyright Tanay Das / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

Other top entries

Photographer: Rajesh Jyothiswaran, United States

Subject and location: Texas, United States

Copyright Rajesh Jyothiswaran / The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

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It wasn’t long ago that many of our reviews of APS-C cameras had to come with a warning: no matter how good the body was, you were almost certainly going to be limited by lens selection. This was especially true with Nikon and Canon’s mirrorless cameras. Sony has followed its longstanding tradition of letting third parties build out a healthy selection of lenses, and the selection for Fujifilm’s APS-C-only X-mount is second to none, but Nikon’s Z mount and Canon’s RF mount appeared to be almost completely locked down. As a result, you could count the number of APS-C lens options available on your fingers.

But things are changing. Over the past year, we’ve seen several APS-C lenses announced and released for Canon and Nikon cameras, filling notable gaps in the first-party lens lineups. But while the situation is improving, it’s clear that the two companies are still in control.

This week, Sigma released four APS-C primes for Canon’s RF mount, making good on its promise to release six licensed lenses for the system – earlier this year, it released the 10-18mm F2.8 and 18-50mm F2.8. Meanwhile, Nikon has allowed Sigma to release select primes for Z-mount – a trio of F1.4 primes at 16, 30, and 56mm. It’s worth noting the company’s 23mm F1.4 is the only one of its APS-C primes that it hasn’t brought to Z-mount; it likely isn’t a coincidence that Nikon’s only first-party APS-C prime lens is a 24mm F1.7.

Sigma’s APS-C prime lens lineup is quite good, and now most of them are available for almost any mirrorless APS-C camera. Image: Sigma

However, Nikon hasn’t stopped companies like Viltrox and Sirui from releasing a slew of Z-mount APS-C prime lenses, complete with autofocus. If you pick up a Nikon Zfc or Z50II, you can get anywhere from a 13mm F1.4 (20mm equiv.) to a 75mm F1.2 (113mm equiv.) to go with it, as well as most of the classic focal lengths in between.

Your choices are no longer limited to a few first-party options, manual-focus only lenses, or glass meant for full-frame bodies

This is an important change for APS-C shooters. Even going back to the DSLR days, it’s felt like many manufacturers have viewed the format as a stepping stone to full-frame rather than something enthusiasts and pros might consciously choose. Neither Canon nor Nikon have been particularly prolific when releasing new APS-C glass. But with the gates being slightly opened, you’re no longer limited to a few first-party options, manual-focus-only lenses from third parties, or heavier, more expensive full-frame lenses. Now, there’s at least some selection of third-party lenses with autofocus to choose from, alongside Canon and Nikon’s offerings.

This isn’t to say that you can now buy any APS-C camera you want and be assured that all the lenses you want will be available – you are still at the mercy of what Canon and Nikon wish to allow. While plenty of primes are available for Z-mount APS-C cameras, no fast zoom lenses are available; Nikon’s all start at F3.5 and end at F5.6 or F6.3.

In fact, there are currently no third-party APS-C zooms available for Nikon Z-mount at all, despite the fact that two have made the jump from E and X-mount to RF – it also goes without saying that there are many others more available on Fujifilm and Sony’s systems. That’s a bummer for anyone looking to step up from the kit lens or wanting to shoot sports or birds in anything but ideal lighting without having to shell out for and lug around a full-frame 70-200mm.

Tamron has promised to bring its 11-20mm F2.8 APS-C lens to Canon RF mount this year as well – no word on Z-mount, despite Tamron bringing some of its full-frame lenses to Nikon. Image: Tamron

RF mount at least has the two constant F2.8 zooms thanks to Sigma, with one more on the way from Tamron, though those are all at the wide end. However, there are far fewer autofocus primes available for Canon, as manufacturers like Sirui and Viltrox aren’t producing them. That’s not surprising; a representative for the latter once said that Canon had told it to stop producing products for RF mount. The 85mm F1.4 lens that Samyang announced for the system in 2020 also disappeared from the market not long after.

In a perfect world, these problems wouldn’t exist. Canon and Nikon would make the lenses that their APS-C cameras needed to stand on their own feet as a real alternative to full-frame options, and there would be robust competition from third parties, which would be allowed to make whatever lenses they want.

None of that seems particularly likely. However, at least those who choose to shoot with a smaller sensor in a Canon or Nikon body have gotten a wider choice of lenses, even if they’re still bound by the companies’ rules.

At the end of the day, that’s better for everyone interested in APS-C, because it means that cameras like the EOS R7 and Z50II are competitive with the Sony a6700 and Fujifilm X-T5 in a way that they wouldn’t have been with an extremely limited lens selection. With any luck, this trend will continue, and the APS-C landscape will become more competitive – even if Canon and Nikon aren’t giving it their full attention.

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Sony has announced the FE 28-70mm F2 GM, a zoom lens that trades 4mm at the wide end for an aperture that’s a stop brighter than the one found on a classic 24-70mm F2.8. It’s the company’s first constant F2 zoom lens for its E-mount cameras.

The lens’s optical formula consists of 20 elements in 14 groups, with three aspherical lenses, three super ED elements, and one ED element. It uses an 11-blade aperture. The front element has an oil and water-resistant flourine coating, and the lens is moisture and dust resistant.

It’s far from a compact lens, though it’s not as monstrously large as you might expect – it weighs in at 918g (32 oz) and is around 140mm (5.5″) long. It has an 86mm filter thread.

Sony makes it obvious what lens it’s competing with; highlighting that it’s 36% lighter and 11% smaller in diameter than Canon’s RF 28-70mm F2 L lens while claiming better corner-to-corner sharpness. The company also says the lens’s four linear motors can focus even when shooting at 120fps, and emphasized that they’re quieter than the older ring-type ultrasonic style motor in the Canon F2. In fairness, that lens was one of the original RF-mount releases, announced in 2018.

“Sony makes it obvious which lens it’s competing with”

The quieter operation should help when shooting video. Other pluses for video: it has an internal focusing mechanism which should make it easier to use the lens on a gimbal, the ability to switch the aperture ring into clickless mode and supports the focus breathing compensation mode included on some Sony bodies. You can also set the manual focus ring to have a linear response, which should make focus pulls easier.

The lens has a variety of switches and buttons. There are two customizable focus hold buttons, an Iris lock switch, the aperture click switch and a zoom smoothness switch that lets you adjust between “smooth” and “tight” torque settings.

It’s not the fastest zoom lens available for E-mount: at the time of writing, that prize goes to Sigma’s 28-45mm F1.8, though that model has substantially less reach on the tele end and only a 1/3EV increase in light-gathering ability.

The FE 28-70mm F2 GM will be available in mid-December and has an MSRP of $2,899.

Sony FE 28-70mm F2 GM Specifications

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