The shortlist was whittled down by a panel of photography industry experts from nearly 140,000 submissions by photographers from 166 countries - the highest number of entries in the Awards’ seven year history.Among the nominees are twenty five British photographers, spanning the competition's professional, open and youth categories.The 2014 Sony World Photography Awards is split into three main categories, Professional, Open and Youth, each of which then broken down into various sub-categories.The professional category is for serious photographers and judged on a body of work rather than a single image.Within the category there are awards for best campaign, best current affairs project, best nature image, best portrait and best sports photograph. The open category includes entries from amateurs and photography enthusiasts, and is broken down into best panoramic, best architecture image, best low light image and best arts and culture photograph, among others.Finally the youth category is a shortlist made up of images taken by photographers under the age of 20.The winners of the open and youth categories – for which eleven photographers are being considered - will be announced on 18 March and each will receive the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony.The open category winners will then go forward to be considered for the Sony World Photography Awards Open Photographer of the Year title, to be announced at a gala ceremony in London on 30 April. The overall winning Open photographer will receive £3,000The five British professional finalists will have their work published in the 2014 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards book.Each finalist will be considered for their respective Professional Category Photographer of the Year titles, the winners of which will also be revealed at the London ceremony in April.All the UK shortlisted and finalist images will go on show at Somerset House, London, from 1-18 May as part of the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az