Nature has a way of surprising us when we least expect it. One second, a predator locks eyes with its prey. Next, sunlight breaks through storm clouds, turning an ordinary landscape into something unforgettable. Those fleeting moments are exactly what make nature photography so powerful, and the Academy Photo Awards 2026 celebrates the photographers who captured them with extraordinary skill and creativity.
This year’s competition showcases an impressive collection of 309 award-winning photographs across seven categories, highlighting majestic wildlife, dramatic landscapes, tiny natural wonders, and awe-inspiring weather. Every image tells its own story, reminding us that the natural world is both breathtakingly beautiful and incredibly fragile.
Taking home the Overall Winner title is Xuejun Long of China, whose remarkable work reflects a profound emotional connection with nature. As the photographer explains, every image grows from empathy, patience, and a genuine love for the wild. That heartfelt approach shines through in every carefully composed frame.
The Academy Photo Awards continues to recognize photographers from around the globe whose images combine technical excellence with powerful storytelling. Whether capturing intimate wildlife encounters, remote wilderness, or nature’s smallest details, these award-winning photographs invite us to slow down, look closer, and appreciate the remarkable planet we all share.
Prepare to explore 42 unforgettable winning images that celebrate the beauty, diversity, and untamed spirit of the natural world through some of today’s finest photography.
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#1. Aerial / Drone – Overall and 1st Place Winner: Journey of Life by Xuejun Long, China
"Aerial photography of Lake Magadi, Kenya coinciding with the rapid transition from the rainy season to the dry season. I was fortunate to have caught this opportunity, and groups of flamingos came to cheer up, bestowing a dreamy beauty from heaven."
#2. Aerial / Drone – 2nd Place Winner: Where the earth ends by Diego Manrique Diez, Spain
"Captured from a unique aerial perspective, this 360-degree panoramic photograph plunges viewers into a scene of raw, untamed majesty at the remote fringes of civilization. A verdant island rises dramatically from the dark, churning sea, its precipitous cliffs carved by relentless elements."
#3. Aerial / Drone – 3rd Place Winner: Reflection by Erfan Samanfar, Iran
"I took this photo with flying by paraglider over maharlu lake in iran"
#4. Aerial / Drone – Honorable Mention: Mobula Ballet in Baja Waters by Colas Decloitre, United States
"Off the coast of La Ventana in Baja California Sur, a graceful squadron of mobula rays glides just beneath the surface. From above, their shadows ripple through the turquoise water like a living pattern, silent and perfectly in sync."
#5. Aerial / Drone – Honorable Mention: Bouquet of Flowers by Thomas Hartstang, Germany
"In a valley on the Icelandic Highlands water finds its way shaping the land into majestic forms, symbolizing resilience and interconnectedness. Rivulets, streams and brooks seemingly run over and under each other, crossing, parting and melting again, creating wonderful abstracts, that let your phantasy run."
#6. Aerial / Drone – Honorable Mention: Farmland by Mustafa Binol, Türkiye
"This photograph serves as a reminder of the vital importance of managing our resources wisely in an era where water is receding meter by meter and the soil is becoming exhausted. The marks are not a signature etched on the earth; they are a silent cry from the water and the soil."
#7. Birds – 1st Place Winner: Pass By by Xiaoping Lin, China
"The big fish chased the small fish and rushed out of the water together, passing the egret. The egret looked surprised and did not know where the small fish would go under the laws of nature? Just like a poem: I passed you by. You hurried here. Before I noticed, you had gone far away, leaving me a regretful back."
#8. Birds – 2nd Place Winner: Morning Dance by Xuejun Long, China
"The morning glow reflected the red sky, and the two crowned cranes flew to the pool to show their affection, and they couldn’t wait to dance, envying the hanging storks on the side."
#9. Birds – 3rd Place Winner: Jays fighting with an audience by Jesse Cason, United Kingdom
"Taken in the snow of Norway. I was there hoping to photograph Golden Eagles, however this proved difficult.
In the meantime there were some Jays frolicking in the snow and fighting over food. I was lucky enough to capture these two with a third bird seemingly watching the show."
#10. Birds – Honorable Mention: Kingfisher with a frog by Graeme Guy, Malaysia
"White-breasted kingfishers found in the sub-Indian area and South-east Asia. They occupy a variety of habitats. I followed a pair for several seasons and recorded their hunting abilities. The male in the image has caught a field frog and is flying to a perch to subdue it and prepare it for ingestion."
#11. Birds – Honorable Mention: Red-bearded Bee-eater by Graeme Guy, Malaysia
"There are 5 species of Bee-eaters endemic to Malaysia. One of the most elusive is the forest-dwelling Red-bearded Bee-eater. In this image a Red-beared Bee-eater has caught a cicada and is going to a branch to subdue it before ingesting it."
#12. Birds – Honorable Mention: Mother’s love by Dikye Ariani, Indonesia
"A mother bird is feeding five baby birds on a tree branch in the morning."
#13. Black & White – 1st Place Winner: Ant with the moon by Cristian Martínez Blanco, Spain
"While photographing subjects with the moon in the background, I found this small subject and captured this night macro photograph."
#14. Black & White – 2nd Place Winner: Mundari cattle camp by Svetlin Yosifov, Bulgaria
"In the Mundari cattle camps, kids are doing most of the daily work. Kids collect the fresh cow dung and put it into piles which are then set on fire. Those fire are useful as they repel the (extremely) numerous and voracious flies and mosquitoes of the South Sudanese countryside."
#15. Black & White – 3rd Place Winner: A Whisper in the Sands by Mohamed Noufal, United Arab Emirates
"Under the soft interplay of light and shadow in the Abudhabi Liwa Desert, a solitary figure pauses with a camel, creating an intimate moment within an immense landscape. The monochrome treatment enhances the sculptural beauty of the dunes, guiding the viewer’s eye toward a story of companionship, resilience, and harmony with nature."
#16. Black & White – Honorable Mention: Silhouette of the hunter by Fatih yılmaz, Türkiye
"The silhouette of a lizard silently approaching its prey under the sunlight."
#17. Black & White – Honorable Mention: The song of flamingos by Rota Defterim, Türkiye
"Flamingos travel a long distance each year with the arrival of spring and immerse themselves in lakes where food sources are abundant. They roam these areas in small groups."
#18. Black & White – Honorable Mention: Apocalypse Now by Eddy Verloes, Belgium
""Apocalypse Now" is the title of this work. I took this photo in Belgium at the Bruges-Ostend Canal on a mysterious and foggy morning. I had the impression that on that morning the world was on fire."
#19. Environment – 1st Place Winner: The Solitude of Storms by Jeremy Janus, United States
"I have battled anxiety and depression for most of my life. The one place that I have always found solitude is in nature. I picked up a camera almost a decade ago and went through many different endeavors before I found shooting storms in 2019."
#20. Environment – 2nd Place Winner: Struggle to survive in the rubbish heap by Debarun Biswas, India
"A huge garbage dump on the banks of the city’s river where the daily waste of the entire area is dumped and left to accumulate. The piles are filled with countless plastic products, rotting animal carcasses and household debris. The air is pungent, full of stench and the scene is equally disturbing: weeds, broken toys, torn clothes and polythene bags piled up with the rotting garbage."
#21. Environment – 3rd Place Winner: Earth is burning by Mithail Afrige Chowdhury, Bangladesh
"Sulaiman(47 ) is a plastic collector living at Ashulia bazaar,Dhaka,Bangladesh.Everyday he looks for plastic bottle,plastic goods in waste dumping yard at ashulia area.He sells the plastic items in recycle factories.Though Sulaiman only knows these supports his family expenses but he is also a climate hero who is contributing in sustainable living and recycling product."
#22. Environment – Honorable Mention: Gözeler kuruyor by Ibrahim şimşek, Türkiye
"Lake Burdur, one of Turkey’s largest lakes, is shrinking day by day. Due to evaporation, pollution, tens of thousands of legal or illegal boreholes, and ponds or dams built on the streams that feed it, the lake is drying up; the small pools known as *gözeler*—which once flowed into the lake like tears—are also drying out, leaving thirsty herds to quench their thirst there instead. Yet, these pools are the lake’s lifeblood, and they bear the marks of the drought."
#23. Environment – Honorable Mention: Desert Wilderness by Xuejun Long, China
"The deterioration of the desert environment not only leads to damage to the ecosystem but also brings numerous problems to the local residents, such as water scarcity and difficulties in agriculture. In order to improve this situation, Saudi Arabia has determined to manage the desert, spending 50 billion US dollars to plant trees in the desert."
#24. Environment – Honorable Mention: Seasonal Pathways by Shadman Al Arbi, Bangladesh
"This photograph was taken on September 27, 2023, during the late monsoon season in rural Bangladesh, where seasonal rangelands remain flooded for several months each year before transforming back into grazing fields in the dry season. While exploring the area in the evening, I noticed a farmer guiding his herd of cattle across the shallow flooded landscape as they returned home at sunset."
#25. Landscape – 1st Place Winner: Golden Abyss by Ivan Pedretti, Italy
"Two waterfalls, one ancient canyon. Háifoss and Granni plunge into the basalt depths as the Icelandic summer sun ignites the sky, painting the volcanic walls in gold and shadow. A fleeting moment where fire meets water, and silence swallows everything."
#26. Landscape – 2nd Place Winner: Alone in the dark by Julio Castro Pardo, Spain
"Night panorama taked in the Teide National Park of Tenerife, Spain."
#27. Landscape – 3rd Place Winner: Stillness Beyond Time by Wendy Klein, Australia
"As the sun slips below the horizon, a small stand of mangroves stand quietly i the shallow waters,silhouetted agaist the fading glow of the evening. Their graceful form and delicate reflectios took my eye and created a scene of remarlable calm, while the sofy pastel collurs of suset stretch across the sky and water. I felt this image celebrates the serentiy of the natural world and the fleetig beauty of the day’s final light."
#28. Landscape – Honorable Mention: Path to Heaven by Anushtup Roychoudhury, India
"This image captured during my last Zanskar Photography trip is the most detailed photograph of the Milky Way I’ve taken to date. And apart from that another key element of this image is the intense airglow in the air. The Drang Drung Glacier spanning 23 kilometers is visible below although its length is decreasing due to global warming."
#29. Landscape – Honorable Mention: Soaring by Ciaran Willmore, Ireland
"On a photography trip to the Faroe Islands, I set out early in the morning from my base on Vagar Island and made my way to Kalsoy via the ferry from Klaksvik. I drove the length of the island, planning a hike to Kallur Lighthouse."
#30. Landscape – Honorable Mention: Acadia National Park by Karen Haberberg, United States
"A pano of 12 frames."
#31. Open Color – 1st Place Winner: Drying incense by Azim Khan Ronnie, France
"Vietnamese workers sits surrounded by thousands of incense sticks in Quang Phu Cau, a village in Hanoi, Vietnam, where the sticks have been traditionally made for hundreds of years. Incense plays an important role in the spiritual lives of Vietnamese people. People use incense in all worship activities."
#32. Open Color – 2nd Place Winner: Teamwork by Dikye Ariani, Indonesia
"A group of ants working together to bring food to their nest."
#33. Open Color – 3rd Place Winner: Sunrise at Lake Boora by Todor Tilev, Bulgaria
"I went to Lake Boora in County Offaly in Ireland very early in the morning. The combination of the fog and rising sun was magical, but something was missing. Suddenly two Gesees showed up and I did not hesitate to take this picture."
#34. Open Color – Honorable Mention: Catch of the Day by Joy Saha, Bangladesh
"Hundreds of fishermen catch fishes with bamboo-made traps in knee-deep water as they take part in a century-old traditional fishing festival during a foggy winter morning in Pabna, Bangladesh. The festival usually takes place in late winter as the water of the lowland area begins to dry up, and the farmlands aren’t prepared yet to harvest new crops in the riverine regions of the country."
#35. Open Color – Honorable Mention: The Haven by Gabor Dvornik, Hungary
"In the hush of autumn mist, a solitary tree and a hidden shelter rise from the dark water like the last remnants of a forgotten sanctuary. Fallen leaves drift across the surface like fragments of time, glowing briefly before they dissolve into reflection and silence."
#36. Open Color – Honorable Mention: Purple spring by Elisabeth Liljenberg, Sweden
"Pasque flowers"
#37. Wildlife – 1st Place Winner: Eye To Eye by Bence Máté, Hungary
"A green-crowned brilliant hummingbird goes eye to eye with a green pit viper. Although the viper does not present a direct danger to the bird, it is a threat to its nestlings, so the hummingbird draws attention to the danger by fierce squeaking sounds and dancing around the predator."
#38. Wildlife – 2nd Place Winner: Ghost of the Savannah by Caesar Sengupta, India
"This image was taken as the hyena walked steadily past the waterhole, at Shompole Conservancy, Kenya, moving from left to right through drifting dust. The backlight carved its outline and mane, separating it from complete darkness and giving it a ghostlike presence. The unique moment wasn’t action—it was movement with purpose. No hesitation, no drama – just confident passage through its territory."
#39. Wildlife – 3rd Place Winner: Beauty and Beast by Luiz Augusto Magina, Brazil
#40. Wildlife – Honorable Mention: Drooling by Xuejun Long, China
"The picture shows the moment when a striped hyena walks away after drinking water. Striped hyenas, which like to hunt at night, live in arid areas and travel long distances in search of water after hunting."
#41. Wildlife – Honorable Mention: Fox Serenity by Derrick Van Frausum, Belgium
"Captured in the heart of Het Nationale Park De Hoge Veluwe, Netherlands. A red fox pauses to embrace the day’s final embers. With eyes gently closed and fur illuminated by the descending sun, he seems lost in a moment of pure, quiet warmth."
#42. Wildlife – Honorable Mention: The Gathering Storm by Turgay Uzer, United States
"A lioness keeps watch on the migrating wildebeest heards from one of the rocky outcrops which dot the Srerenegti plains. Those heavy clouds would bring biblical rains in subsequent days, turning the Serengeti into a water-logged quagmire."
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the Academy Photo Awards 2026?
The Academy Photo Awards 2026 is an international photography competition recognizing outstanding visual storytelling across multiple genres. Its nature section celebrates exceptional images showcasing wildlife, landscapes, natural phenomena, and the beauty of Earth’s diverse ecosystems through remarkable photography.
Who won the Overall Award in the Academy Photo Awards 2026?
The Overall Winner is Xuejun Long from China. His award-winning photography reflects a deep emotional connection with nature, combining patience, artistic vision, and technical excellence to create compelling images that celebrate the beauty and spirit of the natural world.
What kinds of photographs are featured in the competition?
The competition includes wildlife portraits, sweeping landscapes, birds, marine life, macro photography, weather events, forests, mountains, and other natural subjects. Together, the award-winning images showcase the incredible diversity, beauty, and fragility of ecosystems worldwide.
Why are nature photography awards important?
Nature photography awards recognize artistic excellence while raising awareness about wildlife, conservation, and environmental issues. Award-winning images inspire appreciation for the natural world and encourage people to protect the habitats and species they beautifully document.
What makes an award-winning nature photograph stand out?
Exceptional nature photographs combine perfect timing, creative composition, technical mastery, and emotional impact. Beyond visual beauty, they tell meaningful stories, reveal rarely seen moments, and inspire viewers to see the natural world from a fresh and unforgettable perspective.
