Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014 – in pictures

US photographer Michael 'Nick' Nichols was named Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014 this week for his black and white image of lionesses and cubs resting in Tanzania.

The Duchess of Cambridge and Sir David Attenborough were among those giving out the awards at London's Natural History Museum.

Eight-year-old Carlos Perez Naval was named Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014 for his image of a scorpion sitting in the sun near his hometown in Spain.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Here are some of the winners and finalists:

Green dragon by Will Jenkins (UK) Finalist in the 11-14 Years category

Jenkins spotted this three-foot iguana while on a family holiday in Costa Rica. "I love stories about dragons, and I wanted a big picture for my wall that would make me smile every day," he said.

Snowbird by Edwin Sahlin (Sweden) Finalist in the 15-17 Years category

Sahlin captured this Siberian jay while on a family skiing holiday in northern Sweden. He dug a pit in the snow deep enough to climb into, scattered titbits of cheese and sausage around the edge and then waited to photograph the birds from below.

Apocalypse by Francisco Negroni (Chile) Winner in the Earth's Environments category

Negroni travelled to the Puyehue National Park in southern Chile after the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex began erupting. "It was the most incredible thing I have seen in my life," he said.

The price they pay by Bruno D'Amicis (Italy) Winner in The World in Our Hands category

A teenager from a village in southern Tunisia offers to illegally sell a three-month-old fennec fox. D'Amicis's photograph is part of a long-term project to investigate the issues facing endangered species in the Sahara.

Touché by Jan van der Greef (The Netherlands) Finalist in the Birds category

Van der Greef captured this stand-off between a fiercely territorial collared inca and a sword-billed hummingbird during a trip to Ecuador.

The last great picture by Michael 'Nick' Nichols (US) Overall winner – Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

Five females from the Vumbi pride rest with their cubs in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park. Shortly before Nichols took the shot, they had attacked and driven off one of the two pride males.

Stinger in the sun by Carlos Perez Naval (Spain) Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014

Perez Naval, who also won the Ten Years and Under category, found this common yellow scorpion basking on a rocky area near his home in Torralba de los Sisones, north-east Spain. As he changed his camera lens, the scorpion raised its sting as a warning.

• The shortlisted photographs will be on show at the Natural History Museum from Friday 24 October until Sunday 30 August 2015