Beautiful photos: Sony World Photography Awards 2014 shortlist

The shortlist for the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards has been announced by the World Photography Organisation - and these beautiful photos are just some of the amazing entries.

The judges had their work cut out for them: photographers from 166 countries submitted nearly 140,000 images: the highest number in the seven year history of the awards.

All shortlisted images will be published in a book and go on show at Somerset House from 18 May, as part of the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition.

The slideshow below shows the work of some of the finalists from the Open and Professional categories.... tell us below which you think will be the winners!