Wildlife photographer of the year. Portfolio 20 - Natural History Museum

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is an international showcase for the very best photography featuring natural subjects. Each year thousands of entries are received and judged by a specially selected panel of experts. Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio 20 includes all the winning and commended photographs from the 2010 competition. Each stunning photograph includes an extended caption that explains where and how each image was taken.

Being accepted into the competition is something that wildlife photographers, worldwide, aspire to. Professionals win many of the prizes, but amateurs succeed, too. And that's because achieving the perfect picture is down to a mixture of skill, vision, originality, knowledge of nature and luck. This outstanding collection of photographs features a wide range of natural subjects and styles, from vivid scenes of animal behaviour and breathtaking landscapes to abstract images of the natural world. Together they reveal the splendour, drama and variety of life on Earth.