The Siena International Photo Awards recently announced the winners of their annual international photography contest and the results are stunning. With submissions from over 100 countries from Turkey to Myanmar, professional and amateur photographers competed for awards in several categories including architecture, nature, and of course travel. Top honors went to French photographer, Greg Lacoeur, who won the SIPAContest Photo Of The Year with his amazing underwater capture of the sardine migration in South Africa.

All of the winning photos are currently on display at the Siena Art Photo Travel Festival, currently being held in the city of Siena, Italy from now until 30 November. But if you can't make it to Italy this month check out Lacoeur's incredible photo and a few more of our favorite award winners and honorable mentions from the contest below.

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Sardine Run, South Africa

SIPAContest Photo Of The Year

"During the sardines' migration along the coast of South Africa, all marine predators are looking for sardines! I was lucky to be at the right place at the right time to photograph their capture." –Greg Lecoeur

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Strawberry Greenhouses, Turkey

1st Place, Travel Category

"To take this shot, I had to climb a relief which allowed me to include interesting, colored greenhouses located near Nazilli. To make the picture more interesting, I waited for the moment when a Turkish peasant who was working with the strawberries entered the frame." –Leyla Emektar

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I'm Nothing, Myanmar

Honorable Mention, Open Monochrome Category

"The image was taken in one of Bagan's temples in Myanmar. It captures a very special moment when a sunbeam enters through a small window and hits the statue's heart while a monk is cleaning the statue at the same time." –Gunarto Gunawan

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Jodhpur Family, India

Honorable Mention, Travel Category

"Colors, facial expressions, people's posture and a studied composition make this image particularly interesting as it portrays the Bhenwa family in the city of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and is a true representation of the living conditions in this Indian city." –Isa Ebrahim

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Phan Rang Fishing Net Making, Vietnam

1st Place, Open Color Category

"In a small village in southern Vietnam near Phan Rang, a woman wearing a typical cone hat is creating a fishing net in their traditional manner. The manufacturing of handmade nets is still a typical Vietnamese activity for women which they carry on while their husbands are out fishing." –Danny Yen Sin Wong

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Cheerful Conversation, Turkey

Honorable Mention, Open Monochrome Category

"Two elderly men who enjoy a jovial conversation in a mosque courtyard. Life is intimately connected with dialogue."–Mine Ertugrul

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Firefalls, Yosemite National Park, California

Honorable Mention, Nature Category

"For two weeks out of the year, the sun aligns just right with Horsetail Falls in Yosemite National Park where the waterfall glows like lava a few minutes before sunset. To get prime real estate for this shot, I set up my tripod six hours before sunset along the bank of the Merced river with over 200 other photographers. I waited for the swirling mist to rise up the waterfall, and on the second evening produced this magical image." —Nicki Frates

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Harvest Season, Xinjiang, China

Honorable Mention, Open Color Category

"October, the chilly harvest season, when the red chillies are mature, farmers pick them and leave them to dry in the hot sun. Once dry the chillies can easily be stored, transported and sold. This picture was taken from a unique aerial perspective, when the farmers were busy with the harvest." —Hanbin Wang

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Vortex, New York

Honorable Mention, Architecture Category

"This shot, a view of Manhattan, was taken from Brooklyn, dock 3 of Columbia Street. 182 seconds of exposure on a late September afternoon 2015, during my honeymoon. That afternoon was pretty windy and the clouds were formed exactly as I hoped. When taking pictures with a long exposure, the sky always has its surprises." —Giuseppe Antonio Valletta

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Playing In The Sky, Italy

Honorable Mention, Travel Category

"This is Monte Piana (2324m) in the Italian Dolomites, above the small town of Misurina during the International Highline festival. The mountain is popular with walkers, and in particular slack liners, who come to take advantage of the mountains' numerous buttresses, suspending thin lines between the spectacular cliffs and then attempting to walk over the gaps." –James Rushforth

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Floating Market, South Borneo

3rd Place, Travel Category

"A floating market is a market where goods are displayed and sold from boats. Floating markets are developed in places where water transportation plays an important role in everyday life." –Antonius Andre Tjiu

From: House Beautiful US
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Lyndsey Matthews
Freelance Writer

Lyndsey Matthews is the Destination News Editor for AFAR; previously she was a Lifestyle Editor across all of Hearst Digital Media's brands, and a digital editor at Martha Stewart Weddings and Travel + Leisure.