Travel Photographer of the Year 2012 – the best pictures

Craig Easton, UK – winner of the Cutty Sark Award for Travel Photographer of the Year 2012. The Minch, Western Isles, Scotland. 'This is a series of images from my ongoing personal project called Dreich – an old Scottish word to describe the wet, grey, miserable, dank weather that we Brits constantly complain about. Having taken photographs all over the world in all sorts of glorious and dramatic weather, I now appreciate the uniqueness of our (sometimes) drab British climate'
Photograph: Craig Easton

Craig Easton, UK – winner of the Cutty Sark Award for Travel Photographer of the Year 2012. Paris, France. 'French privacy laws now dictate that I had to ensure that no one was recognisable in the images, which led me to the idea of silhouettes against an iconic background. The same legal system meant that I couldn't shoot this at night, as the lighting on the Eiffel Tower is protected by copyright laws'
Photograph: Craig Easton

Alessandra Meniconzi, Switzerland – winner, new talent portfolio (another world). The Nenets are an indigenous tribe living in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Siberia, Russia. Here Olya, six years old, collects wood in the forest
Photograph: Alessandra Meniconzi

Dmitry Miroshnikov, Russia – commended, new talent category. Hammerhead sharks swim toward a ‘cleaning station’, where small fishes help them to get rid of parasites, Cocos Island, Costa-Rica
Photograph: Dmitry Miroshnikov

Andrew Newey, UK, winner – best single image in a portfolio (journeys) . Mentawai shamans resting after hunting, Siberut Island, West Sumatra, Indonesia
Photograph: Andrew Newey

Anka Sliwa, UK, winner – first shot (big city). Shoreditch, London, England: 'This graffiti itself composes a very powerful image. I needed a figure that would make the silent scream audible. This casual passer-by seemed perfect'
Photograph: Anka Sliwa

Marsel van Oosten, Netherlands, winner – wild planet portfolio. Quiver tree, Namib desert, Namibia
Photograph: Marsel van Oosten

Uli Kunz, Germany, runner-up – wild planet portfolio. The king of the Arctic at the edge of an ice floe, Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic
Photograph: Uli Kunz

Philip Lee Harvey, UK – winner, people watching portfolio. Groundnut harvest near Bagan, Burma
Photograph: Philip Lee Harvey

Jan Schlegel, Germany – runner-up, people watching portfolio. Biwa and the crocodile, Kara tribe warrior, Omo valley, Ethiopia. The original image is a toned B&W silverprint
Photograph: Jan Schlegel

Timothy Allen, UK, winner – best single image in a portfolio (people watching). Children watching an Oxfam team at work, Grand Gedeh, Liberia
Photograph: Timothy Allen

Jino Lee, Malaysia – special mention, best single image in a portfolio (people watching). Two salt farmers indulging in their favourite pastime, a friendly rooster fight, in Bali, Indonesia
Photograph: Jino Lee

Samuel Fisch, US (age 15) – winner of Young Travel Photographer of the Year 2012. Wyoming cowboys corralling horses at sunrise, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Photograph: Samuel Fisch

Chase Guttman, US (age 16) – winner of the YPA Emerging Talent Award. At a premier equine event in Lancaster County, Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania
Photograph: Chase Guttman

Matthew Gillooley, US (age 18) – winner, young travel photographer, 15-18 years (places & faces). A young boy protects his family’s cows with his machete, Kilgoris, Trans Mara, Rift Valley Province, Kenya
Photograph: Matthew Gillooley

Felicia Simion, Romania (age 18) – runner-up, young travel photographer, 15-18 years (places & faces). 'Smiling in the time of freeze,' Ciocăneşti, Dolj county, Romania
Photograph: Felicia Simion

Michael Theodric, Indonesia (age 10) – winner, young travel photographer, 14 and under (places & faces). A fisherman casts his net early in the morning, Bagendit Lake, Garut, Indonesia
Photograph: Michael Theodric

Michal Jastrzebski, Poland – winner, best single image in a portfolio (wild planet). Glaucous gulls fight over scraps left by a polar bear, Spitsbergen, Norway
Photograph: Michal Jastrzebski

Lung Liu, Canada – winner, journeys portfolio. A blue moon rises over an art installation in the deep playa, far away from the festivities in the temporary city, Burning Man Festival, Nevada, US
Photograph: Lung Liu

Hilde Foss, Norway – winner, one shot (water) category. A kayaker enters the Brandseth river for the downhill competition at the Voss Extreme Sports Week in Norway. The competitors enter the river via a ramp in an otherwise calm part of the river, creating this great wall of clear water
Photograph: Hilde Foss

Timothy Allen, UK – commended, one shot (water) category. Samnieng, a Laotian fisherman, crosses a turbulent Mekong river to reach his fishing grounds, Four Thousand Islands, Laos
Photograph: Timothy Allen