There’s something quietly magical about scrolling through thousands of photos and suddenly stopping dead in your tracks. That’s the moment DPReview editors live for. In 2025, that feeling happened again and again during DPReview’s monthly Editors’ photo challenges—and honestly, it never got old.
One of the underrated joys of life behind the DPReview curtain is running these challenges. Each month, readers are handed a fresh theme and one simple mission: show us what you’ve got. No pressure, right? But what comes back is pure fire. Frame after frame, DPReview’s community proves that beyond the pixel-peeping jokes and gear debates lives a global crew of wildly talented, deeply committed photographers.
These images aren’t just technically sharp—they tell stories. They freeze emotion. They turn everyday scenes into cinematic moments. Some photos hit you with instant impact; others creep up slowly, lingering in your mind long after you’ve moved on. That’s the beauty of this collection.
This year’s selection brings together two staff-favorite images from each Editors’ challenge across the past twelve months. To make sure the lineup truly reflects a full year of standout work, the journey stretches back to the winners of December 2024, since December 2025’s champions won’t be crowned until year’s end.
What you’ll see here is diversity in every sense—styles, subjects, moods, and voices from around the world. Landscapes that breathe, portraits that stare back, fleeting street moments, and creative experiments that bend the rules just enough to feel fresh.
These 24 photos don’t just represent the best of DPReview’s challenges—they capture the heartbeat of photography in 2025. Passionate, personal, and proof that great images don’t just come from great cameras, but from people who see the world a little differently.
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#1. Landscape Photography – "The empire of the midnight sun" by BasilG
"Spectacular view of the midnight sun in Senja, Northern Norway. This region, with its mountains rising straight from the sea and the stunning midnight sun, is among my favourites for landscape photography. It took me two attempts to capture this photograph as I had imagined it, as I was caught in a thunderstorm on the first attempt."
#2. Winter Games – "Aletch Glacier, Switzerland" by Mattalatta
"The genre of Adventure Photography can be quite challenging. One has to have the stamina to manage the trip while expending extra energy to carry camera gear and capture photographs. This often requires anticipating shots, running ahead and photographing as your partners move through your frame. In this photo, safety was a primary concern as we skied along a crevassed glacier with seracs hanging above us. I was in the back, waiting for my friends to create a leading line to the peak framed in the picture. Moving quickly through this section of the glacier was important, so I only had a moment to capture the frame."
#3. Red, green and blue – "Colors, canal, cloud" by Anders A
"Mum spoke enthusiastically about the vivid colors of the tulip fields in Holland. I started to wonder what they might look like from above, from a drone. This was in 2015, and drone tech was still very new and far from something everyone had. So, my tulip-loving friend Ulf and I drove the 1,000 km down to Holland on a chilly day in April 2015 and started criss-crossing the landscape. And my god, it looked fantastic! This is probably the best shot from the trip, from outside Sassenheim. The canals are used to flood the fields after harvest, to kill off germs and parasites."
#4. Road trip – "Driving through the highlands" by JohnnyBE
"This photograph was taken around 1:00 AM during an all-night road trip through the Highlands of Iceland. Experiencing and photographing such a remote place with no one else around was truly unforgettable.
This photo was taken from a drone, with the main challenge being to find the right composition to capture this epic location, while at the same time including my car for scale and perspective. The blue light worked beautifully with my exposure settings, allowing me to convey the mood of the moment, from the dark volcanoes to the distant blue sky."
#5. B&W street – "Kings of the street" by SFStreets
"Every year, the San Francisco Low Rider Council holds the "King of the Streets" event, where lowriders cruise along Mission Street. This year I caught a skateboarder come riding by one of the entrants, between 17th and 18th Streets. We all survived the encounter."
#6. Human-powered travel – "Riding on UFOs" by Dan da Lanci
"Close Encounters of the Third Kind:" two bikers in their "spacy" vehicles meet in the middle of nowhere, and I found that the scene has something of the famous film directed by Steven Spielberg."
#7. Compact camera bonanza – "Close encounters" by Prahja
"Taken whilst on an exploratory caving expedition in Borneo in 2013 (to find, explore and survey new cave passages). The mist and formations were a good opportunity to try out a lightweight photography setup."
#8. Water – "The underside of water" by Thorgnyr
"Often during winter, Lake Thingvallarvatn freezes. The view of the ice from below can be spectacular, especially during the thaw period; the ice has broken into flakes and then froze again. This was the case when this picture was taken. I started taking pictures without the diver but felt the scale was missing. So I got my buddy to pose for me."
#9. Happy holidays – "Ho! Ho! Happy holiday little fella" by Hooyat
"The boy was watching children lining up to take pictures with Santa Claus. Santa noticed the boy was watching him for quite a while. He was alone with his mom. Santa came over, peeked around the fence, and told them he would take a picture with the boy… free of charge and ahead of the queue. Happy holiday."
#10. Red, green and blue – "Moonlight star trail over a wild tulip field, Blufi, Sicily" by Astrodariogiannobile
"What is happening in Holland on this “day?" Nothing except that… we are not in the daytime, and we are not in Holland!!! Strange? Absolutely yes. We are in Sicily, of course, and what you see is a real field of wild tulips growing near the village of Blufi."
#11. Chasing summer – "Beach sprint" by LuMa
"A great afternoon with the kids, family and some wonderful beach fun. I was just lying around in the shallow waters and snapping away at my kids fooling around with their games. It’s always more fun when the camera is waterproof."
#12. Human-powered travel – "Pretty big jump" by Gbeeston
"I built this jump with my friend over a week, and it turned out a little larger than we had imagined. The day we tried hitting it was a little muddy, so getting up to speed was a challenge. After a few run-ups, he pulled the trigger. Neither of us was expecting to get that much height off the lip!"
#13. Chasing summer – "Summer love?" by Softmarmotte
"Taken during the alpine mountain summer at a swimming lake with views over the distant glaciers. A typical scene of young people flirting and maybe falling in love. Savoie, France."
#14. Fall follies – "Day of the Dead" by JeffryzPhoto
"In Mexico, this time of year means preparations for Day of the Dead, or Día de Los Muertos: the time when departed souls can return to visit loved ones left behind. Marigolds feature prominently, their color and scent helping to guide them."
#15. Water – "Under" by Cliff Connell
"On one of the last hot days in autumn 2011, just before our southern Australian Easter swell kicked in, I had just finished a long session of surfing some pretty big, clean waves when I decided to get back in to capture some in-water shots of the rest of the crew. Most of the shots I got that morning were pretty average, except for this one of a young guy duck diving under the closed-out section of a 5-6 foot wave. It made my day!"
#16. Pixels in your pocket – "Spiral spiral" by Fatplanediaries
"I spent a summer with family in Europe. At the time, I only brought a prime for my camera, so I ended up using my Samsung for all other focal lengths. My camera ended up becoming my B cam, as I enjoyed smartphone photography quite a bit that vacation."
#17. Landscape photography – "New Mexico White Sands yucca" by Garyphx
"Taken late in the day on our way out of White Sands National Monument. I actually stopped to take a different photo. Then saw this lone Soaptree Yucca on top of a large dune. The grain of the "sand" and ripples on top are classic White Sands."
#18. Happy holidays – "New Year’s Eve, Mt. Hood, Oregon" by Rainrunner
"New Year’s Eve at Mt Hood, Oregon, each year, if weather permits, we snow camp on New Year’s Eve and watch the fireworks show at Timberline Lodge."
#19. Compact camera bonanza – "Curtain call" by Findhenryb
"I would never grab a photo during a performance, but when the curtain call took place, I grabbed my camera and made this quick frame at the Paris Opera House."
#20. Road trip – "On Iceland’s ring road" by Phantogram
"In spring this year, I was chasing the northern lights in Iceland. When the weather was not promising, I was hitting the road for a better location. However, bad weather often gives the nicest shots. This picture was made close to Djupivogur, a small town in the east fjords, with blistering winds and between rainstorms."
#21. Pixels in your pocket – "Balloons over Myanmar" by Light Reaction
"This photo was taken while soaring above Bagan, Myanmar. This moment was guided by a UK army veteran piloting our balloon – a tradition in Bagan where British and international pilots work alongside local crews. Ballooning here is more than a visitor’s thrill: it’s a source of pride and support for the local community, with companies employing hundreds of locals and funding projects in education, health, and heritage conservation, ensuring that the ancient temples continue to inspire and sustain those who call Bagan home."
#22. Winter games – "Ryland Bell" by Owenleve
"Professional snowboarder Ryland Bell on location with Warren Miller Entertainment. This was shot in the Chugach Mountains with Points North Heli-Adventures, a heli-ski operation based out of Cordova, AK. This is a seldom-ridden line as conditions have to line up just perfectly."
#23. Fall follies – "Foggy fall in Norway" by Hach
"This photo was taken from the roadside overlooking a small farm. Underneath is the Tyrifjorden lake, covered by fog. The location is at Sollihøgda (Sunny heights), just north of Oslo."
#24. B&W street – "Monte Sant’Angelo di corsa" by Luigi Azzarone
"While I was visiting a beautiful town in Italy, the Puglia region, I saw these works drawn on the wall. I waited for the right moment to immortalize the beauty of youth, the desire to live."
