AP monthly staff photo contest

Each month, The Associated Press management honors photographers for outstanding photo coverage while on assignment. The winners for the February 2015 AP Staff Photo Contest are Pavel Golovkin, Dmitry Lovetsky and Denis Tyrin in News photography for “Opposition Killing”, Natacha Pisarenko in Feature photography for “The Northern Peninsula” and Kamran Jebreili in Sports photography for “Pigeon Return”. 

Congratulations to all the photographers for their outstanding work. This month's winning images are featured below.

News Photography | Opposition Killing by Pavel Golovkin, Dmitry Lovetsky and Denis Tyrin

Boris Nemtsov, a charismatic Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 near the Kremlin. The killing on the streets of the capital has shaken Russia’s beleaguered opposition.

APTOPIX Russia Opposition March

People carry Russian national flags during a march in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov who was gunned down on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 near the Kremlin, with The Kremlin Wall and St. Basil Cathedral in the background in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 1, 2015. Thousands converged Sunday in central Moscow to mourn veteran liberal politician Boris Nemtsov, whose killing on the streets of the capital has shaken Russiaís beleaguered opposition. They carried flowers, portraits and white signs that said ìI am not afraid.î (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

APTOPIX Russia Opposition March

People with Russian national flags march across a bridge, watched by police in boats on The Moskva River below, in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov who was gunned down on Friday, Feb. 27, near the Kremlin, as they protest against his death in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 1, 2015. Some thousands converged Sunday in central Moscow to mourn veteran liberal politician Boris Nemtsov, whose killing on the streets of the capital has shaken Russiaís beleaguered opposition. (AP Photo/Denis Tyrin)

APTOPIX Russia Opposition Leader Killed

A group of ambassadors to Russia lay flowers at the place where Boris Nemtsov, a charismatic Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down, at Red Square, with St. Basil Cathedral in the back and the Kremlin at left, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015. Nemtsov was gunned down Saturday near the Kremlin, just a day before a planned protest against the government. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

APTOPIX Russia Nemtsov

Russian police investigate the the body of Boris Nemtsov, a former Russian deputy prime minister and opposition leader at Red Square with St. Basil Cathidral in the background in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015. Russia's Interior Ministry says Boris Nemtsov, a leading opposition figure and former deputy prime minister, has been shot and killed near the Kremlin. Nemtsov, a sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, was killed early Saturday. His death comes just a day before a major opposition rally in Moscow.(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

APTOPIX Russia Opposition Leader Killed

A man prepares portraits of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov who was gunned down on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 near the Kremlin, to carry on the march in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 1, 2015. Russian investigators, politicians and political commentators on state television on Saturday covered much ground in looking for the reason Nemtsov was gunned down in the heart of Moscow, but they sidestepped one possibility, that he was murdered for his relentless opposition to Putin. The posters read in Russian 'those bullets for everyone of us, he fought for the freedom of Russia'. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

APTOPIX Russia Opposition

Relatives and friends pay their last respects while passing the coffin of Boris Nemtsov, a charismatic Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, during a farewell ceremony inside the Sakhavov's center in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 3, 2015. Mourners are lining up outside the Moscow human rights center for the funeral of murdered Nemtsov. Western officials have called for Russia to conduct a prompt, thorough, transparent and credible investigation into the slaying. Putin has ordered law enforcement chiefs to personally oversee the probe. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

APTOPIX Russia Opposition

People follow the coffin of Boris Nemtsov during a farewell ceremony at the Sakharov center in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 3, 2015. Mourners are lining up outside a Moscow human rights center for the funeral of murdered Nemtsov. a charismatic Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, who was gunned down on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 near the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

Feature Photography | The Northern Peninsula by Natacha Pisarenko

Earth’s past, present and future come together here on the northern peninsula of Antarctica, the wildest, most desolate and mysterious of its continents. The first explorers set foot in Antarctica hunting 19th-century riches of whale and seal oil and fur. Since then, the continent has proven a treasure chest for scientists trying to determine everything from the creation of the cosmos to how high seas will rise with global warming.

Antarctica Mysteries Photo Essay

In this Jan. 28, 2015 photo, Chilean Alejo Contreras looks through a window on King George Island in Antarctica. Exploring Antarctica is something Contreras, 53, began dreaming about as a teen after reading Robert Falcon Scott's journal of his journey to the South Pole. When Contreras finally got to the South Pole in 1988, he stopped shaving his beard. Antarctica is ìlike the planetís freezer,î said Contreras, who has led more than a dozen expeditions to the continent. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Antarctica Mysteries Photo Essay

In this Jan. 26, 2015 photo, pinguine footprints cover the beach in Punta Hanna on Livingston Island, part of the South Shetland Islands archipelago in Antarctica. Earthís past, present and future come together here on the northern peninsula of Antarctica, the wildest, most desolate and mysterious of its continents. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Antarctica Mysteries Photo Essay

In this Jan. 22, 2015 photo, Chilean Navy officers push away ice by moving their boat in circles as they approach the Aquiles navy ship where they will pick up international scientists and take them to Chile's scientific Station Bernardo O'Higgins in Antarctica. While tourists come to Antarctica for its beauty and remoteness, scientists are all business. What they find could affect the lives of people thousands of miles away. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

APTOPIX Antarctica Mysteries Photo Essay

In this Jan. 20, 2015 photo, a church is lit in the town of Villa Las Estrellas on King George Island, Antarctica. Geologists are entranced by Antarcticaís secrets. Clues to answering humanityís most basic questions are locked in this continental freezer the size of the United States and half of Canada: Where did we come from? Are we alone in the universe? Whatís the fate of our warming planet? (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Antarctica Mysteries Photo Essay

In this Jan. 22, 2015 photo taken through a window, a scientist collects samples outside near Chile's station Bernardo O'Higgins in Antarctica. The first explorers set foot in Antarctica hunting 19th-century riches of whale and seal oil and fur. Since then, the continent has proven a treasure chest for scientists trying to determine everything from the creation of the cosmos to how high seas will rise with global warming. ìItís a window out to the universe and in time,î said Kelly Falkner, polar program chief for the U.S. National Science Foundation. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

The Week That Was in Latin America Photo Gallery

In this Jan. 20, 2015 photo, wooden arrows show the distances to various cities near Chile's Escudero station on King George Island, Antarctica. Thousands of scientists come to Antarctica for research. There are also non-scientists, chefs, divers, mechanics, janitors and the priest of the worldÌs southernmost Eastern Orthodox Church on top of a rocky hill at the Russian Bellinghausen station. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Antarctica Mysteries Photo Essay

In this Jan. 24, 2015 photo, members of the Spanish base Gabriel de Castilla, and scientists watch a movie on Deception Island, part of the South Shetland Islands archipelago in Antarctica. As an active volcano, Deception Island is a pot of extreme conditions. There are spots where the sea boils while in others it can be freezing. And while the sun rarely shines on the long, dark Antarctic winters, night time never seems to fall on summer days. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Antarctica Mysteries Photo Essay

In this Jan. 24, 2015 photo, snow surrounds buildings used by Chile's scientists on Robert Island, part of the South Shetland Islands archipelago in Antarctica. Temperatures can range from above zero in the South Shetlands and Antarctic Peninsula to the unbearable frozen lands near the South Pole.(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Antarctica Mysteries Photo Essay

In this Feb. 1, 2015 photo, Holy Trinity church stands illuminated at Russia's Bellinghausen station on King George Island in Antarctica. Holy Trinity is the world's southernmost Eastern Orthodox Church. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Antarctica Mysteries Photo Essay

In this Jan. 27, 2015 photo, an iceberg floats in the Bahia Almirantazgo near Livingston Island, part of the South Shetland Island archipelago in Antarctica. Antarctica conjures up images of quiet mountains and white plateaus, but the coldest, driest and remotest continent is far from dormant. The majority of it is covered by ice, and that ice is constantly moving. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

The Week That Was in Latin America Photo Gallery

In this Jan. 22, 2015 photo, a Gentoo penguin feeds its baby at Station Bernardo O'Higgins in Antarctica. "To understand many aspects in the diversity of animals and plants itÌs important to understand when continents disassembled,Ó said Richard Spikings, a research geologist at the University of Geneva. ÏSo weÌre also learning about the real antiquity of the Earth and how (continents) were configured together a billion years ago, half a billion years ago, 300 million years ago,Ó he said, adding that the insights will help him understand AntarcticaÌs key role in the jigsaw of ancient super continents. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Antarctica Mysteries Photo Essay

In this Jan. 27, 2015 photo, penguins walk on the shore of Bahia Almirantazgo in Antarctica. Antarctica ìis big and itís changing and it affects the rest of the planet and we canít afford to ignore whatís going on down there,î said David Vaughan, science director of the British Antarctic Survey. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Sports Photography | Pigeon Return by Kamran Jebreili

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is a professional tennis tournament owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free and held annually in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on outdoor hardcourts. The tournament takes place at the end of February and organizes a men's and women's event.

APTOPIX Mideast Emirates Tennis

Simone Bolelli of Italy returns the ball to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic as a pigeon flies over the court during the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

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