Perfect timing! Stunning images taken at just the right moment are celebrated in photography competition
- Erupting volcano during a storm claimed first prize for ‘The Perfect Moment’ photography competition
- Rare phenomenon occurs when force of elements thrown from bottom of the volcano collide on the outside
- The photo contest also saw four other worthy winners alongside Francisco’s ‘dirty storm’ shot
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An erupting volcano in a lightning storm, a hummingbird eye-to-eye with a snake and a rocket launch are just a few of the striking photographs that were captured at the perfect moment in a competition.
The stunning images were snapped at just the right time and showcase the beauty of the natural world in The Perfect Moment competition.
First prize was awarded to a fascinating image capturing the moment a storm was created during a violent volcanic eruption in Chile, showing hundreds of lightning bolts joined together in an intricate ‘net-like’ structure above plumes of molten lava.
Second place was awarded to a fascinating photo of a green-crowned hummingbird hovering in mid-air, eye-to-eye with a small, green pit viper which is dangling by its tail from a branch.
Other photographs that were crowned runner-ups was a photo of a lamb crossing a rickety wooden bridge, followed by a herd of more than nine sheep and an image of two praying mantises perched on a branch.
First prize winner, Francisco Negroni, won $2,000 cash prize, as well as a Tamron 2.8 G2 camera lens, and a $200 voucher to spend at camera equipment store, Lens Pro To Go.
The contest’s judges, Max Rive of the Netherlands and John Weatherby of the USA, called the photo ‘truly spectacular’.
Winner: A ‘dirty storm’ during the eruption of the Calbuco volcano in Chile. This incredible photo shows the moment a volcano erupted in the middle of a violent lightning storm – and has won first prize in ‘The Perfect Moment’ photo competition. The striking photograph shows the Calbuco volcano in Chile, South America, right at the eye of a perfect ‘dirty storm’
Runner up: A European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) in an unknown location nibbling on a dandelion stalk
Runner up: Competition finalist Hasan Baglar submitted an amusing photograph of two praying mantises perched on a branch, their front legs stretched up in the air, and their colourful wings outspread in Cyprus
Runner up: An incredible image shows a stunning red sun rising over rocky peaks in the Kofa Mountains, Arizona, USA
Second place: ‘Eye-to-eye’. The fascinating photo shows a green-crowned hummingbird hovering in mid-air, eye-to-eye with a small, green pit viper which is dangling by its tail from a branch. The on-guard hummingbird, photographed with its wings beating rapidly, squared off against the viper in order to protect its nesting young, making squawking sounds and dancing in mid-air around the snake
Third place: Droplets of water form a triangle as a cormorant shake water off its wings at Kiskunság National Park in Hungary
Fourth place: A SpaceX rocket launch over Aspendell, California. The light is from the setting sun hitting the rocket’s exhaust plume. This shot is from when the first and second stage boosters separated and the exhaust almost took on the form of a deep space object
Runner up: This fascinating image, in an unknown location, shows a boat’s close encounter with a friendly whale shark
Runner up: Thsi breathtaking image shows an ice halo around a tree in Ratec, Slovenia. Ice halos occure when when tiny crystals of ice are suspended in the sky. Like raindrops scatter light into rainbows, the crystals of ice can reflect and refract light, acting as mirrors or prisms
Runner up: A colourful image shows a shoal of Sweetlips fish swimming above coral reef off the coast of the Raja Ampat Islands
Runner up: A sweet photo of a little lamb crossing a rickety wooden bridge, followed by a herd of more than nine sheep in Patagonia, Argentina
Runner up: This amazing photo shows a lizard clambering on what appears to be an empty shell sharing a ‘kiss’ with a tiny snail in Indonesia
Runner up: Countless chilli peppers surround labourers in the Bogra district in the north of Bangladesh. More than 2,000 people work in almost 100 chilli farms in Bogra in Bangladesh to supply local spice companies with chillies for use in their recipes