This collection of more than 120 beautiful and thought-provoking photographs reminds us of the ultimate source of beauty, wonder and joy: the natural world. Each image is accompanied by a caption that tells the story of its making and its creator's aims, and each photographer tells the story of how he or she became a passionate about nature. Selecting 12 of the world's top nature photographers is an onerous task, but for the photographers themselves, selecting their favourite images is enormously difficult, for each image carries with it memories, and often of months of trials and tribulations.While the styles of the chosen photographers differ hugely, they share a passion for nature and an ethic that puts an animal's welfare before their own goals. For some, the objective is to tell a story about a place or subject, or to make a record of places and scenes that evoke memories and moods. For others, it is to use photographic techniques to create a painting in colour and light, or to compose graphic portraits.