Majestic mountain ibex among winners in GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2024 members' competition

The winners and runners-up of the GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2024 members' competition have been announced.

The overall winner is Dieter Damschen from Lüchow-Dannenberg in Germany with the photograph 'Winter flood in a riparian forest'.

"Winter is my favourite time of year and one of my favoured motifs is the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Elbe River Landscape," says Damschen.

"I often visit this hardwood riparian forest in the foreland of the dyke to take photographs at fixed points with lines of sight that reveal carefully selected compositions. Although I claim to know this location very well and sometimes get the feeling that I have seen and photographed everything here many times, I am regularly surprised by how different a supposedly familiar place can appear.

"After several years with extremely low water levels, a long awaited winter flood inundated the old oak trees in January 2024. On this particular morning, the trunks and branches of the trees were plastered with snow on one side, thanks to snowfall in combination with strong winds during the previous night. The resulting contrasting lines emphasise the time-worn structures of the mighty trees, creating the special graphic effect of this fleeting moment.“

There was no shortage of enchantment in this year's photo competition. Here, we take a look at 20 of the best winners and runners-up.