You may indeed be able to get your animal fix via the Internet most days (cat gifs, anyone?), but when it comes to eye-popping photography, there’s nothing quite like the annual Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards, named after the acclaimed American photographer. Around 20,000 images were entered into this year’s competition, and you can see 48 of the best shots at the National Museum of Natural History, where they’re on display through the end of 2012.
Sandra Windland Smith Rice, who died in 2005 at the age of 35, had a particular interest in protecting natural wildlife, and aimed to make it more accessible to humans through photography. To see more photographs, or to enter your own work in the 2013 contest, visit naturesbestphotography.com. You can see a video that accompanies the exhibition here. For more information about the exhibition, visit the Natural History Museum’s website.