Photography: The Nature Conservancy announces contest winners

Horseplay: The Nature Conservancy had 57,489 photos submitted from 135 countries. Photo / Supplied Camille Briottet, TNC

A stunning shot of an enormous piercing blue chunk of ice in Iceland and an image of flames erupting from a volcano in Mexico are among the winning images of a prestigious photography contest run by The Nature Conservancy.

Selected from more than 50,000 entries, a photo of two wild horses play-fighting in Camargue, France, taken by Camille Briottet of Lyon, won the grand prize, the Daily Mail reports.

The image of the iceberg, by Andre Mercier of Los Angeles, came in second place, while a candid portrait of a young girl holding a bullfrog by Terra Fondriest from Arkansas was awarded third place.

This year The Nature Conservancy said its photo contest received a record number of entries, with 57,489 shots sent in from applicants dotted across 135 countries.

Along with the three main prize winners, there were awards given in six further categories including "people and nature", "landscape", "water", "wildlife", "cities and nature" and "judges' special recognition".

Commenting on the results, Bill Marr, director of photography for The Nature Conservancy and one of the contest's judges, said: "The quality of entries this year is stunning. It was very difficult to select the winner. We have wonderful entries from all over the world, from beautiful Western landscapes to squirrels in a backyard in Austria. Photography is a common language for all." Here we present the jaw-dropping winners of each category.