Photographers from 35 different countries, submitted 21,790 photos in the Glanzlichter competition in Germany… and an Almuñequero won a top prize.

His work, entitled, The last lowland gorillas, ended as the clear winner in the category of mammals, and only lost the over-all winning position by a miniscule difference.

Two photos out of the almost 22,000 submitted were selected as finalists for the Over-All Winner-DVF-Medaille in Gold; Almuñequero Mingorance and Italian Gian Luigi Fornari Lanzetti.

The Italian’s entry was an impressive shot taken from a helicopter of a female lion running through long grass.

After a extended deliberation the international judges panel, the Italian won by just one point.

“Never have we been so close to bringing a gold back for Almuñécar,” he said, adding, “although the winning photos is absolutely fantastic, either could have won, because they were so different.”

This year’s silver medal in this particular international competition is the fifth that Mingorance has won.

“We’ll try again next year but it will be really difficult to come that close again to winning the gold (First Prize),” he concluded.

(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)