The Natural Landscape Photography Awards is a contest that focuses on aerial vistas and wildernesses to draw attention to the natural beauty of our planet. The first annual contest received 13,368 entries from 47 nations, each with stunning photos highlighting rough terrains and tranquil wildernesses.

The following are some of this year’s winning photographs, including a lightning strike on the Matterhorn in the Alps, a moon peeking through trees at Joshua Tree National Park, and an ice cube melting on black sand beaches of Fellsfjara in Iceland.

The competition’s rules were extremely tight. No compositing, removing, or distorting features, or mixing photos was permitted. All photographers who made it through the initial round were forced to submit their RAW files to verify that they hadn’t broken any rules. This implies that when you view the winning photographs, you see what photographers can do right in front of their cameras.

Steve Altermann and Brandon Coleman, who won Photographer of the Year and Photograph of the Year, respectively, are excellent examples of photographers who genuinely captured natural settings. Altermann’s intriguing photograph of an ice cube settling on a black sand beach in Iceland is visually appealing. The picture, which won him Photograph of the Year, demonstrates that noticing the right moments may be beneficial.

We’ve hand-picked some of our favorite photographs below, but you may view the entire collection of top images on the contest’s website. (via Peta Pixel)