An Australian photographer has taken out first prize in a global search for the world’s best landscape photo.
Goblin Valley State Park, USA
Australian photographer Luke Simpson has taken out first prize in Agora’s #Landscape2020 worldwide photography competition with this full moon shot captured at Goblin Valley State Park in Emery, USA. “It was a totally unplanned shot on our American road trip, only made possible by the running speed, willingness, and full send it ability of my friend on the photo,” Luke says. “What a blessing and a pleasure it is to be alive and to share this beautiful earth with you all! The future is bright when we shine our light.”
Here are the other incredible photographs that made it into the competition’s top 50:
Schaffhausen, Switzerland
“I love to observe the structure of barley fields … Nature has so many colors and compositions!” – @rizzolophotography.ch
Netherlands
“Some tulips, fog, and a windmill! I don’t think it can be anymore Dutch than this.” – @nick_skeyes
Mount Bromo, Indonesia
“Walk alone.” – @sandal_gunung_
Dubai, UAE
“I believe this kind of scenery, with the desertic landscape, the 4×4 vehicles, and the traditional dress is a good representation of life in the UAE.” – @amamun707
Bayern, Germany
“It was my first time photographing a thunderstorm, but definitely not the last time!” – @jp.photoart
Mont St Michel, France
“When I took this picture, I was surrounded by sheep! I wanted to take a different picture, to show the Mont’s silhouette in a unique way. The wide-open spaces dominate the landscape and one can guess the silhouette and the mist!” – @pascalbiomez
Volcán De Fuego, Guatemala
“This Vulcano can be reached by foot. It’s a 2-day hike, and it’s a tough one!” – @pictures.by.luka
Tre Cime, Dolomites, Italy
“I was amazed by the location of that little church, just in front of the peaks of Tre Cime di Lavaredo. The mountains were covered by clouds most of the day and while we hiked, the peaks were hidden. We got lucky and the sky opened for a short period, revealing this view. I think this image conveys well how we feel small in front of nature.” – @ghislainfave
Iceland
“The north of Iceland can be harsh in the depths of winter, but in between the snowstorms come incredible sunsets and sunrises you’d only see this time of the year.” – ¡@joncleave
Tu Lan Cave, Vietnam
“The Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2003, covers 85,754 hectares. The Park’s landscape is formed by limestone plateaux and tropical forests. It features great geological diversity and offers spectacular phenomena, including a large number of caves and underground rivers.” – @bscongtam
Tutoko Glacier, Milford Sound, New Zealand
“Visiting the Mildford Sound was captivating and awe-inspiring, we wertesurrounded by breathtakingly beautiful scenery. On a rare cloudless day I had the opportunity to take a helicopter to the top of Mount Tutoko Glacier. Landing there was spectacular, with a beautiful contrast of the blue sky and untouched snow. This glacier has been there for millenia and the rapid warming of the earth puts this stunning natural beauty in jeopardy. The solitary figure amidst the vast and majestic landscape, symbolizes how insignificant we humans are on this planet, and yet, how much influence we have over its survival. On a rare clear day, the helicopter brought me to the top of the magnificent Tutoko Glacier.” – @pamelaplaz
Indonesia
“It feels to us like we can see even clearer now what matters the most to us. When almost everything is now not allowed, we can all realize what is most important for us in life, what we care the most about, and what we miss the hardest.” – @makyandmatt
Hong Kong
“The composition of this shot is to set out the rosewood hotel development (the main subject of this shot) along with the two iconic skyscrapers next to it to create a mountain-scape-like landscape shot in the city. There may not be a natural landscape in the city but in my opinion, the man-made concrete landscape that shaped the city is a type of landscape scene itself, and the red boat sailing at sea passing by helps to set the human scale to reinforce the idea of the urban landscape.” – @jsrpixel
Chu Đang Ya Volcano, Vietnam
“This extinct volcano is one of the most beautiful destinations in Central Vietnam.” – @hoacarol
Iceland
“Have you ever been to Mars?! I went the other day to check how was the situation over there, and they invited me to stay for a while. It seems that leaving Earth is now the best option, the astronauts who left last month were the smartest here, I guess! Can you spot my car? It’s the tiny white dot! The scale there is incredible!” – @alvarovaliente_
Chechen Republic, Russia
“I hitchhiked the whole Caucasus region with my friend. One day, a man with a car picked up us, and during our conversation, we figured out that he was the manager of the hotel located on the shore of the mountain lake. We were so grateful for the ride that I was ready to offer him some cool shots from this lake to express our gratitude for his help. The manager said that he loves and respects those people who prefer to hitchhike and sleep in tents under the open sky. He was so kind that he allowed us to stay for the night in their special rooms because the night was cold in the autumn season. He also gave us some food. – @inchaseofbeauty
Tumpak Sewu, East Java, Indonesia
“I traveled with my girlfriend to East Java to meet some local photographers who wanted to show me why their home region is the most beautiful part of Indonesia. We went to several waterfalls, but this one was by far the most impressive. It was a sketchy hike down the cliff to get to the bottom. The falls are called Tumpak Sewu, which means “a thousand waterfalls”. They are over a hundred meters high, which means the size of this waterfall is mind-blowing. That’s what I tried to transmit with this photo, and that’s why I’m standing in front of it for scale! The waterfall is somewhere in the jungle, with a huge volcano in the back. When I flew my drone, I suddenly realized that the volcano was perfectly lined up with the waterfall. Another behind the scenes fact is that we were there alone, for over 2 hours! Can you believe that? By now, I’m sure this place got more popular!” – @sjoerdbracke
Whitsundays, Australia
This place is so pure! It’s only accessible by boat, so we slept on the boat in a neighboring bay in order to get here in the morning.” – @johandroneadventures
Panama
“This was definitely my favorite hike in Panama! Landscapes were out of this world … and we had an amazing sunrise that day as well! Panama has so much to offer, should definitely be on your bucket list.” – @followmypath_
Vlissingen, Netherlands
“Classic Dutch Beach” – @cunodebruin
Dolomites, Italy
“Visiting the Dolomites last year was such a crazy experience. I loved every single view and moment of it, even though it was freezing and I’m not a fan of cold weather!” [email protected]
Kirkjufell, Iceland
“We were looking for the best sunset, and we eventually found it at Kirkjufell, the iconic Icelandic mountain. I didn’t have my tripod, and I couldn’t get a long exposure. I was trying to find the best angle for that reflex to get the shot right!” – @samuelemiccoli
Central Oregon, USA
“We missed the turnoff for the trail and walked an extra 2 miles.. After we backtracked and went down the correct trail we were greeted by this monster waterfall, one of the most spectacular places I’ve seen in Oregon.” – @chadtorkelsen
Lake Baikal Caves, Russia
” You can’t reach the caves during summer, even by boat – the only way to get in is to wait for the winter to freeze all the water, so you can access them by foot. There was ice all around, hanging from the ceiling and streaming along the walls. It felt like there was a mirror spreading along the ground.” – @poul_t
Iceland
“This shot shows that our planet is alive!” – @victormsf
Valensole, Provence, France
“The best time to visit the lavender fields in southern France is during the summer, from mid-June to mid-July.” – @rakia10
Iceland
“During our last stop on our Icelandic road trip, we were treated to these ruby red mountains smoking vents, this place felt like another planet!” – @joelfriend
Utah, USA
“These colourful mud mounds I came across while in Utah were like something from Mars. This location blew me away and I had never seen anything like this before.” – @jamesxtheo
Iceland
“This lighthouse stands guard day and night through storms and through beautiful sunsets. I wanted to capture it standing strong and braving all elements.” – @cannonmatt
Zeebrugge, Belgium
“I went to the beach to photograph the fireworks festival, but a thunderstorm took all the attention away. On the left side, you can see the Zeebrugge harbor with its many wind turbines and in the background, you can see nature producing electricity. It’s not about the emotion, but it’s about a fact … Tiny human efforts to produce electricity with wind turbines and nature producing electricity out of the blue with no effort at all.” – @oliviervandeginste
Crete Senesi, Italy
“Maybe, after all, not all roads lead to Rome.” – @lanoiadelbarret
Cairo, Egypt
“Old Cairo” – @banudiker
Vatnajökull, Iceland
“The glaciers that these caves are in are always moving, shifting from snow, melts and floods – so nothing is permanent.” @jeffreyjkieffer
Sulawesi, Indonesia
“Mosque 99 domes” – @reskieq
Saint Petersburg, Russia
“This 462m building strikes with its loneliness. There are no other high-rising buildings in the area, just the water and one or two-storied suburbian houses. This is why this tower looks more like a sculpture, or an artwork rather than as an office skyscraper.” – @poletaev.photo
Utah, USA
“What a ridiculously beautiful landscape Utah has to offer! This is probably one of the most underrated viewpoints in the state. We hiked here early morning to find ourselves looking over this incredible canyon.” – @tomdewaart
Thailand
“Ship in a storm” – @spanikar
Padstow, Cornwall
“Hard to believe places like this exist in the UK … I had to sit and wait for almost 3 hours for the tide to go out, which was no way a negative thing! But I think the pay off was certainly worth it … ‘Sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away’ – is exactly what was required before this image was taken.” – @perkspectivephotography
Namib Desert, Namibia
“This photo is really precious to me, as it was not only one of my first photographic trip with my reflex camera, but also my first road trip outside Europe. You don’t need many words to describe the feeling of driving in a silent desert right after sunrise: from that moment I just remember how overwhelming it was to be surrounded by perfect natural sand creations. Namibia became recently a renowned IG destination for photographers, but 8 years ago there was almost no one there. On that morning, we met only 15 people. Everyone was more into enjoying the scene instead of getting ‘influencer’ style pictures.” – @freeilli
Maspalomas, Spain
“Minimalism” – @josuozkaritz
Perth, Australia
– @simonpastor
Manarola, Cinque Terre, Italy
“One of the most magical sunsets ever! I spent the whole evening there and waited for the most magical light.” – @seplb
Seiser Alm, Italy
“When we got there it was still really dark and the view was not what we were hoping for: there was no low fog on the meadows and the peaks were not in sight. Still, we waited for the sunrise … Our patience was rewarded at last: as the first sun rays appeared behind the peaks, a thick fog rolled in, and in just a few minutes this breathtaking scenery appeared … It was one of the most magical moments I was lucky enough to experience so far. Moments like these taught me that photography is all about waiting for the right moment. I believe it is possible to contribute to the quality of your images simply by making use of your patience. I like to call this the process of waiting: it is important to me to get where I want to shoot early enough to be able to plan and anticipate, the potential photos I would like to take. After that, it is all about waiting …” – @e.stis
Tajao, Tenerife, Spain
“I dressed in dark clothes to highlight my silhouette in the sky, which at sunset was white, but also to highlight the volume of the natural bridge.” – @dcoedel
Haifoss Waterfall, Iceland
“It was my very first day in Iceland. At this moment I realized how incredible our earth is, and how many other beautiful places I was about to see during the trip. It was only the beginning.” – @filippobellisola
Ship Rock, New Mexico, USA
“Some of the most unique landscapes I’ve ever seen.” – @leemumford8
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
“We got up early in the morning to catch the lion’s mountain and the first rays of sunlight. The landscape was magnificent and I captured it without hesitation!” – @artempikalov
Moskenesöya, Norway
“It was an 8-hour drive from Tromso to Lofoten. It was in the middle of the night and suddenly I discovered the Northern Lights. Since I had no tripod at hand, I used the car roof!” – @and1402
