THE NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST 2024 WINNERS GALLERY
The gallery of winners of the 2024 edition of The Nature Photography Contest is here. Enjoy the winning photographs of our photography contest, as well as the different finalists.
Congratulations to all the photography award winners!
PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR
Polar Bear Amid Fireweed Blooms, by Christopher Paetkau.
"A majestic polar bear wandering through a sea of blazing magenta fireweed. The scene was surreal—the golden hues of sunrise mingled with the vibrant fireweed, creating a breathtaking backdrop as the bear hunted for Arctic Terns among the rocks. After a successful hunt and a morning snack, the bear settled into the fireweed for rest.
This fleeting experience was a powerful reminder of the raw magic and tranquility of the Arctic wilderness."
Category winners
Natural Landscape
Stuart Chape
Glacial blue
“Aerial view from a helicopter of the glacial blue waters of the Tasman River flowing into Lake Pukaki from the high mountains of Aoraki-Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand.”
Wildlife
Steve Marsh
Harmony Below
“Introducing 'harmony below,' a captivating nature photograph that invites you into the awe-inspiring world beneath the waves. This extraordinary image captures the harmonious dance of a majestic humpback whale swimming gracefully alongside a playful pod of dolphins. As you gaze upon this breathtaking spectacle from above, you'll be transported to a realm where two species, each with its unique grace and power, come together in perfect synchrony. It's a testament to the beauty of the natural world and the magic that unfolds when different beings unite in a dance of life.”
Macrophotography
Berthold Grünhagen
Hairy ice cave
“Hair ice forms on dead wood under very special conditions and often lasts only a few hours. If the right humidity and a temperature of around 0 degrees Celsius are present, a hairy structure is formed. It is assumed that the water emerges from channels in the wood, which are formed by special fungi, and is then gradually pushed out as it freezes.”
Underwater
James Ferrara
Moby Dick
“Off the coast of Dominica, I was fortunate enough to dive with a pod of sperm whales. This day there was tons of sargassum weed in the water. A large sperm whale started to barrel towards me. I held my ground and when it passed me it felt like a train going by. I was lucky to snap a few photos and the sargassum weed added to the composition of the shot.”
Birds
Saleel Tambe
Poetry of flight
“This was a flock of gulls on an overcast day. The light was very low and not suitable for any action photography. I decided to make creative use of the situation and using the slow shutter speeds along with simultaneous zooming and panning, tried to achieve this dreamy effect of a surreal bird flight.”
Plant Life
Avilash Ghosh
Call of the Void
“During herding in the forest of Goa, India, I saw this fungus named Dead man's finger. And it was very interesting to photograph these fungi for their shapes like skeleton finger, and when I was capturing this image, it was raining, and I composed the image with the help of rain droplets which litup with the help of flashlights and lit up the fungi with the help of LED torchlights as well.”
Night World
Francisco Cortes Arias
Tributo al cielo
“An impressive eruption of the Volcano of Fire “Chi'Gag” in Guatemala. A starry sky, a full moon that was hiding and the unforeseen and impressive eruption of Chi`gag that seemed from the earth to offer its strength and energy to the sky and the whole universe. It was a unique moment of communion with nature in all its splendor!”
Environmental impact
Rob Green
The Face in The Trap
“A grizzly bear’s life is pretty simple: look for food, find a mate, sleep for a long time, repeat. They’re perfectly tuned to forage for berries, dig for seeds, and scavenge carcasses. They don’t seek out conflict, they simply make decisions based on what’s in front of them––but in the end calories are calories. His decision to go after sheep landed this bear in a culvert trap, set by wildlife specialists out of concern for people, livestock, and the bear himself. Strange as it sounds, getting captured might be his best chance of survival. Watching him through the steel grate, he didn’t seem erratic or fearful. If anything, he looked confused, trying to understand a world changing faster than he can naturally evolve. His reflection stares back at him as if expecting him to exist between two worlds: one where he’s revered as a symbol of wisdom and wildness, and the other where he’s a nuisance at best and a menace at worst. This culvert trap isn’t the most serious one he or his kind will face. The traps we put on landscapes––roadways, unsecured attractants, our sprawling human footprint––pose far greater threats over time. The good news is they relocated this bear to territory far from humans, where he’ll have another chance to thrive. ”
Sharing the Planet
Sina Ritter
Sweet Girl´s Essence
"'Sweet Girl' had a magic that drew everyone to her. It wasn’t just her size or grace, it was her spirit, her presence, something unspoken yet deeply felt by every soul fortunate enough to cross her path. She had a gentle charm, an almost magnetic curiosity that made you feel like you were part of her world, even if just for a moment. In this image, that charm shines through. Here, she meets Rachel Moore, not as two separate beings but as if they are old friends. Sweet Girl, a beloved young whale known for her gentle nature and ability to connect with people, tragically lost her life on Oct 8 2024 after being hit and killed by a large fast-moving vessel between Tahiti and Moorea. She suffered severe injuries, including a broken jaw and a nearly cut off head, which left her struggling for hours. Her death deeply affected those who encountered her, highlighting the urgent need to slow down ferries during whale season."
Funny Nature
Brian Clopp
Curious About Photography
“A young rare desert kit fox explores a camera lens by biting on its, curious about the object and what it is made of.”
Photographer of the Year
The Photographer of the Year 2024 award has been given to Thomas Vijayan for his outstanding ability to capture the essence of nature through his lens. His photographs stand as a testament to both his technical mastery and his deep appreciation for the wild. Through various categories, Vijayan has demonstrated his keen eye for composition, storytelling, and the delicate balance that governs the natural world.
On this page, you will find numerous examples of his exceptional talent, and this image is just one of the many that have made him worthy of this Photographer of the Year title.
As part of this recognition, Thomas Vijayan will have the honor of selecting the location where nearly 500 trees will be planted—one for each participant in this edition. Thanks to your support and participation, these trees will contribute to preserving and protecting our planet for future generations.
Great photographs of the finalist
These award winning photographs are capable, by themselves, of transmitting and showing us an infinite number of reasons to appreciate and care about our world. But there are many more photographs that deserve to be highlighted, each one of them having different capacities to evoke and spread that connection between nature and photography.
Here you have a small selection with some of the finalist photographs of this The Nature Photography Contest 2024.
Once again, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the winning photographers of this edition of The Nature Photography Contest 2024. We hope these images serve as a reminder of the incredible world we live in, revealing both familiar and unseen wonders. May they open our eyes to the beauty that surrounds us, its fragility, and the vital role we all play in preserving it.
We invite you to share these extraordinary images and celebrate the talented photographers behind them—artists who have captured the essence of nature through their lenses and whose work inspires us to admire, respect, and protect our planet.