Starry Tree by Elmar Akhmetov, Kazakhstan, Winner, Low Light, Open Competition

The swanky gala awards ceremony for the Sony World Photography Awards 2013 draws closer, and the winners of the ten Open categories, the 3D category, and the Youth cetegory winners have just been announced.

Taking the spoils of a Sony A77 each for their prowess in the Open categories are:

Architecture - Martina Biccheri, Italy
Arts and Culture - Gilbert Yu, Hong Kong
Enhanced - Hoang Hiep Nguyen, Vietnam
Low Light - Elmar Akhmetov, Kazakhstan
Nature & Wildlife - Krasimir Matarov, Bulgaria
Panoramic - Yeow Kwang Yeo, Singapore
People - Hisatomi Tadahiko, Japan
Smile – Ming Hui Guan, China
Split Second - Matías Gálvez, Chile
Travel - Manny Fajutag, Philippines

These ten amateur photographers are now up for being awarded the title Sony World Photography Awards Open Photographer of the Year on 25 April 2013 at the aforementioned swanky gala ceremony, and will be presented with $5,000 in addition to their new camera.

As for the 3D award, that's going to Matjaž Tančič, a Slovenian fashion photographer based in Beijing and Ljubljana.

The overall winner of the Youth category will also be announced on 25 April, but the finalists for that honour are:

Culture - Alecsandra Dragoi, Romania
Environment - Xu Wei Shou, Taiwan
Portraits- Berta Vicente, Spain

The professional photographers have been shortlisted; the winner of the Iris d'Or will be unveiled on 25 April in London.

(All images copyright their respective photographers and courtesy of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards.)