What do fox cubs, the Milky Way and rolling green hills in Vietnam all have in common?

They’ve all been captured by budding and professional photographers vying to win the Sony World Photography Awards 2019.

The deadline for submissions is drawing closer (January 4, 2019) – and the competition organisers have revealed a batch of some of the most eye-catching snaps entered so far.

In total there are ten categories in the competition including architecture, landscape, portraiture, wildlife and travel.

Scroll down to see some of the shots in the running to win…

1. Brittany Crossman from Canada said she had the opportunity last spring to watch this family of foxes grow up just two minutes from her house. She explained: ‘Everyday, this dedicated mother made multiple trips back and forth to the den to deliver food to her kits, and to let them nurse. This vixen (female) was always excitedly greeted by her kits upon return’

2. Photographer Nguyen Phuc Thanh from Vietnam says that Long Coc is the most beautiful tea mountain in Vietnam with hills ‘shaped like upside down bowls’. The photographer added that at the beginning of winter, there is more fog with the lower temperatures, which makes the scenery ‘even more amazing during sunrise’

3. Witold Ziomek from Poland took this shot while exploring the chilly shores of Stokksnes in Iceland. The photographer said, recalling the moment: ‘We witnessed the arrival of a colder front over Iceland. Suddenly a gusty wind came up, throwing in particles of frozen rain. A wonderful experience’

4. Tam Erdt from Germany shot the sunrise at Tre Cime di Lavaredo in northeastern Italy and waited for the Milky Way. The photographer explained: ‘Suddenly a car appeared on the horizon and drove all the way to the lodge Rifugio Locatelli. We started a long exposure to complete the perfect composition’

5. Pavels Prokopecs took this impressive aerial shot of the symmetrical gardens of Rundale Palace, which is one of Latvia’s most outstanding monuments of Baroque and Rococo art

6. Jun V Lao from Vietnam said of this shot: ‘An immense school of sardines make way for a scuba diver enjoying an array of shimmers and shadows exhibited by the shoaling million. Taken in March 2018 at Moalboal Philippines, it’s the only place on earth where this spectacle happens on a daily basis.’ Jun said the image was taken at around 30 feet and a fisheye lens was required to ‘capture the immense size of the shoal’

7. Irene Tondelli took this shot during a cloudy hike on Mount Etna in Sicily. She says ‘for those who haven’t grown up at its feet, an active volcano might seem a disturbing presence’ but for locals they see it simply as a ‘mountain that destroys and recreates’

8. Carole Pariat from France said of this shot: ‘This stony forest, situated in the South of China, is composed of many stone peaks which were sculptured gradually by the process of erosion due to rain and wind. In the background, the mountain has also been shaped over millions of years. And between the two, these skyscrapers erected in no time at all contrast with this magic landscape. Nevertheless, due to the similarity of their form, the rising stony constructions seem to begin a silent dialogue with the maze of high buildings drawn by the hand of the men’

9. Michael Chee Yen Chuan from Malaysia took this image backstage before an opera in Kuala Lumpur. He explained that each performer applies unique make up to create different looks

10. Carlo Diamanti from Italy wanted to use this photo to ‘express the day I felt the loneliest’

11. Donny Herry from Indonesia captured elementary school boys curiously sneaking through a line of veterans during an event commemorating wartime. The photographer mused: ‘Learning from history leads to greater future. The children are hopes to our nation’

12. Valeria Massimino from Argentina says as a photojournalist she is ‘exposed to all kinds of violent situations’. She took the above shot in the streets of Buenos Aires

13. Felix Johnny Thomasmathibalan from Sweden titled this photo ‘mosh pit buddies’. He said of the shot: ‘With Parkway Drive performing at the Copenhell Festival in Copenhagen, a small group of friends had an intense way of enjoying the show. I stuck my camera out from the photo pit and managed to capture this’

14. Agnieszka Podlaszewska from Poland said she captured this portrait of two young boys ‘one rainy summer day’

15. António Leong from Portugal took this shot of a butcher in Macau preparing to close his shop after a long day at work. The photographer said that the image was taken inside the Red Market, which is a three-story wet market building in Macau. He added: ‘Erected in 1934, this is one of the oldest markets preserved in its original form, and its name derives from the red bricks used in construction’

16. Stéphane Navailles took this striking black-and-white photograph at the 19th century Parisian department store Le Bon Marché

17. Matt Davis took this candid shot of daily life on Blackpool Beach in the UK. He explained: ‘In the midst of a heatwave, I visited some of Britain’s most popular Northern beaches to document the characters who visit every year’

18. Yannis Davy Guibinga from Gabon in central Africa shot this striking portrait in Montreal, where he is now based. The photographer said he wanted his photo series to ‘highlight and celebrate the hair of the black woman in the world where this hair is very rarely considered the norm, let alone beautiful’

Source: Sony World Photography Awards