A fox peeks through the base of a moss-covered tree. Colorful flowers sway against a dark blue sky. A sea lion hunts for dinner deep in the ocean.

These are some of the images from the finalists and shortlisted photographers in the Professional competition for the Sony World Photography Awards 2022.

Presented by the World Photography Organisation, the awards are now in their 15th year. The winner of the Photographer of the Year 2022 will be chosen from the Professional finalists and announced in mid-April.

“Observing Fox" by Milan Radisics, above, is a finalist in the Wildlife and Nature category.

For eight months, Radisics spent every night sitting at the window of his cottage in the middle of the forest in Hungary watching a young fox he named Roxy. He said he set the lights up in advance, like a studio, waiting for her to walk into the scenes.

Radisics describes his image

More than 340,000 images from 211 territories were submitted this year and more than 156,000 were entered in the Professional competition. That’s the most entries in the history of the awards.

Here are more of the finalists and shortlisted photographers in the professional competition.

“Painful Death of Birds”

This series from Mehdi Mohebi Puor is on the shortlist in the Environment category.

Puor says, “In recent years, we have witnessed the death of thousands of migratory birds in Iran’s Miankaleh Wetland—the cause is still unknown. This is a set of efforts by environmental forces to collect and bury birds.”

The image shows surviving birds migrating from the lagoon.

“Fiesta”

Oana Baković is a finalist in the Wildlife and Nature category for a series that includes these colorful flowers photographed at Great Dixter House and Gardens in the U.K.

Baković says:

“Red Beds”

This series from Jonas Daley is on the shortlist in the Landscape category.

Daley says:

“Nemo’s Garden”

Giacomo d’Orlando photographed Nemo’s Garden, the world’s first underwater greenhouse, located just off the coast of Noli, Italy. The images earned d’Orlando honors as a finalist in the Environmental category.

The photographer describes his work:

“Sea Horse”

Arun Kuppuswamy Mohanraj is on the shortlist in the Wildlife and Nature category for his series that includes this seahorse, made of 125 images stacked together.

The photographer describes the series of photographs and how they were made:

“Tehran Province - Damavand City – 2021”

Majid Hojjati was named to the shortlist in the Landscape category for his series called “The Earth Belongings.” In it, he shows what humans have taken from nature against what people have given in return.

Hojjati says of this image:

“Tree”

Gareth Iwan Jones is a finalist in the Landscape category for his series on trees. Above, is a beech tree he photographed in autumn.

Jones says:

“Iris UVIVF”

Debora Lombardi is on the shortlist in the Wildlife and Nature category for images she created using an experimental technique that reveals vivid, incandescent colors.

She describes her iris image:

“Sea Lion Hunting 2”

Graeme Purdy is on the shortlist in the Wildlife and Nature category for his work photographing activities in the deep oceans.

He discusses his image of a sea lion hunting: