See 64 stunning honorable mentions and People’s Choice picks from our 52nd annual photo contest
THE PHOTOS were just too good! We couldn’t not share more standouts from the 52nd annual National Wildlife Photo Contest. Along with the winning photos, judges selected the 60 honorable mentions below from nine categories totaling nearly 40,000 entries by more than 4,000 photographers. You voted, too! Nearly 7,000 of you weighed in on the People’s Choice award, resulting in the winner and three runners-up below.
“These memorable images stay with us, fueling a love for wildlife and the world around us,” says Jennifer Wehunt, editorial director of National Wildlife magazine. “These photos remind us of what we are working to conserve for future generations.”
View the photos below, revisit the 2023 winners then enter the 2024 photo contest today!
BABY ANIMALS
Hector Astorga, Delmita, Texas
White rhino calf, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya
PEOPLE IN NATURE
Wayne Wolfersberger, Frederick, Maryland
People observing wildlife under the full moon, Hayden Valley, Yellowstone, Wyoming
MAMMALS
Kathryn Bryan, Saint Helena, California
Black-tailed jackrabbit, Sonoma County, California
BIRDS
Sandra Rothenberg, Warren, Pennsylvania
Female Baltimore oriole gathering horsehair and bailing twine, Warren, Pennsylvania
MOBILE
Sandra van Hoek, Thornton, New Hampshire
Green frog eating a pickerel frog, Campton, New Hampshire
OTHER WILDLIFE
Rachael Innes, Torrance, California
Moray eel in a bottle, Dumaguete, Philippines
YOUNG NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Anton Trexler, Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany
Hare, Wiesbaden, Germany
LANDSCAPES & PLANTS
Philip Knapp, Iron River, Wisconsin
Vegetation encased in ice, Ashland, Wisconsin
MAMMALS
Manoj Shah, Nairobi, Kenya
Male white rhinos, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Laikipia County, Kenya
BIRDS
Scott Kalter, Lyme, New Hampshire
Burrowing owl, Brian Piccolo Park, Broward County, Florida
BABY ANIMALS
Hector Astorga, Delmita, Texas
Lioness with cubs, Zimanga Private Game Reserve, South Africa
YOUNG NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Gustav Parenmark, Gävle, Gavleborgs lan, Sweden
A male Evarcha arcuata jumping spider sitting on the stem of a flower, Gävle, Sweden
LANDSCAPES & PLANTS
Peter Mangolds, Jackson, Wyoming
Water lily in the Tetons, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
PORTFOLIO
Sean Crane, Farmington, Connecticut
“Snout to Snout, Beak to Beak”
PEOPLE IN NATURE
Wai Hoe Mok, Singapore, Singapore
Scuba diver in a school of jacks, Sipadan Island, Malaysia
OTHER WILDLIFE
Daniel Sly, Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia
Eastern gobbleguts carrying eggs in mouth, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
MOBILE
Kelly Bracken, Redondo Beach, California
Snow-covered Grand Canyon, South Rim of the Grand Canyon
OTHER WILDLIFE
Weihua Ma, Guangzhou City, Guangdong, China
Damselfly, Zhejiang province, China
PEOPLE IN NATURE
Emily Fisher, Bedford, New York
Ice fisherman, North Salem, New York
MAMMALS
Morup Namgail, Leh, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Snow leopard, Uley village, Ladakh, India
BABY ANIMALS
Saurabh Chakraborty, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Newly hatched olive ridley sea turtles, Rushikulya, Odisha, India
BIRDS
Subha Joshi, Emeryville, California
Northern pygmy owl, Ukiah, California
YOUNG NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Gustav Parenmark, Gävle, Gavleborgs lan, Sweden
A Xysticus crab spider hunting prey on a daisy flower, Fårö, Sweden
MOBILE
Henghua Jiang, Beijing, Beijing Shi, China
Gossamer-winged butterfly, Nanning, Guangxi, China
LANDSCAPES & PLANTS
Minghui Yuan, Wuhan City, Hubei, China
Fungi growing on leaf, Xishuangbanna, China
OTHER WILDLIFE
Zhengze Xu, Shanghai, China
Female red crab with baby red crabs, Christmas Island, Australia
MOBILE
Marie Laforge, Englewood, Florida
Wave, Englewood, Florida
MAMMALS
Lionel Maye, Anchorage, Alaska
Polar bear with cubs, Kaktovik, Alaska
BIRDS
Janet Lewis, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Sharp-tailed grouse fighting, Eastern Upper Peninsula near Pickford, Michigan
BABY ANIMALS
Leighton Lum, Aiea, Hawai’i
African elephant calf with mother, Amboseli National Park, Kenya
PEOPLE IN NATURE
Brent Newman, Denver, Colorado
Navigating a sandstorm, White Sands National Park, New Mexico
YOUNG NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Aidan Yu, Chandler, Arizona
Juvenile green heron and red-tailed pennant, Phoenix, Arizona
LANDSCAPES & PLANTS
Jake Mosher, Bozeman, Montana
Bighorn Mountains after dark, near Burgess Junction, Wyoming
BABY ANIMALS
Karen Blackwood, Denver, Colorado
Hippo calf, Lake Nakuru, Kenya
BIRDS
Nathan Myhrvold, Bellevue, Washington
Puffin flight path, Lovund, Norway
MAMMALS
Ryan Pennesi, Finland, Minnesota
Bobcat, Schroeder, Minnesota
MOBILE
Henghua Jiang, Beijing, Beijing Shi, China
Mantis, Nanning, Guangxi, China
OTHER WILDLIFE
Kat Zhou, San Francisco, California
Nurse shark eye, Bimini, Bahamas
PEOPLE IN NATURE
Billy Weeks, Ringgold, Georgia
Sandhill crane photographer, Meigs County, Tennessee
YOUNG NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Gustav Parenmark, Gävle, Gavleborgs lan, Sweden
A red wood ant (Formica rufa) dismembering a deceased female black-tailed skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum), Ullahau nature reserve, Fårö, Sweden
LANDSCAPES & PLANTS
Karen Cox, Sharpsburg, Georgia
Barker Dam Trail, Joshua Tree National Park, California
OTHER WILDLIFE
Minghui Yuan, Wuhan City, Hubei, China
Annam tree frog on a leaf, Mulan Mountain, China
MAMMALS
Peter Mangolds, Jackson, Wyoming
Red fox, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
YOUNG NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Gustav Parenmark, Gävle, Gavleborgs lan, Sweden
An amber snail (Succinea), Gävle, Sweden
BABY ANIMALS
Torie Hilley, Ventura, California
Brown bear cub with an eagle feather, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska
OTHER WILDLIFE
Soumya Ranjan Bhattacharyya, Hooghly, West Bengal, India
Malabar gliding frog, Amboli, Maharashtra, India
BIRDS
Kenyan Guidry, Beaumont, Texas
White ibis in flight, Cattail Marsh in Beaumont, Texas
OTHER WILDLIFE
Minghui Yuan, Wuhan City, Hubei, China
Spider on water lily, Xishuangbanna, China
MAMMALS
Jessica Hadley, Auburn, California
Gray fox in oak tree, near the American River Canyon in Auburn, California
YOUNG NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Faith Barton, Spring Valley, California
Allen’s hummingbird, San Diego, California
OTHER WILDLIFE
Corbin Smith, The Woodlands, Texas
Ribbon snake eating a tree frog, The Woodlands, Texas
MAMMALS
Colin Marshall, Nelson, South Island, New Zealand
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) breaching, Wild Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa
OTHER WILDLIFE
Minghui Yuan, Wuhan City, Hubei, China
Asian weaver ant and green katydid, Xishuangbanna, China
MOBILE
Shane Gericke, Glendale, Arizona
Green saguaro in front of a total lunar blood moon eclipse, Glendale, Arizona
MAMMALS
Kevin Dooley, Albuquerque, New Mexico
African elephants, Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana
OTHER WILDLIFE
Benjamin Salb, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Sweat bee on crocus, Alexandria, Virginia
YOUNG NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Faith Barton, Spring Valley, California
Black-crowned night herons, San Diego, California
LANDSCAPES & PLANTS
Isabel Guerra Clark, Phoenix, Arizona
Milky Way over Shiprock (Tsé Bitʼaʼí), Navajo Nation, New Mexico
OTHER WILDLIFE
Christopher Harrington, Venice, Florida
Mabel orchard orbweaver, Spanish Point Botanical Gardens, Sarasota, Florida
YOUNG NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Anton Trexler, Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany
European starlings, Germany
People’s Choice Award Winner
"Perfect Dive"
Otto Beyens, Waregem, Belgium
In August 2022, Otto Beyens traveled two hours to visit his friend and view the kingfishers that frequent his garden. Hoping to get the "perfect shot," Beyens took over 1,000 pictures of the birds flying, perching and diving for fish. "At first I just wanted to get a kingfisher on a branch, but I saw one diving five or ten times an hour and thought maybe I can try to get a photo of that," says Beyens. "I kept my camera focused on the water and when he dove, I pressed the button and hoped for a good picture."
Peoples’ Choice Award Runner-up
"Golden Crowned Kinglet: The Tininess in Nature"
Sean Medina, Woodside, New York
While taking walks in Central Park, Sean Medina keeps an eye out for the "little things." "When I look for birds, I'm always paying attention to the slightest and smallest of things," says Medina. His watchfulness paid off when he came across this golden crowned kinglet, one of the smallest passerines in North America.
Peoples’ Choice Award Runner-up
"The Fox and The Deer"
Amulya Rao, East Brunswick, New Jersey
Since the pandemic, Amulya Rao has taken to spending mornings taking photos of wildlife in her backyard. On a particularly still morning, she was able to capture a rare sight: a deer and a fox standing side by side. "When I take photos, it feels like I am speaking with the subject," says Rao. "This morning, it was just the three of us and nothing else. The deer, the fox and me."
Peoples’ Choice Award Runner-up
"Peregrine Falcon"
Keen Harrison, Chicago, Illinois
When a pair of peregrine falcons chose to nest on top of Keen Harrison’s Chicago apartment building, she got the special opportunity to observe the birds regularly. "It was a joy to awaken each morning to the sound of the falcons calling to each other," says Harrison. In this shot, the falcon comes in for a landing on a balcony rail.
The 54th annual National Wildlife® Photo Contest is now open for submissions. First- and second-place winners in multiple categories receive cash prizes, and scores more receive honorable mentions—as well as the chance to see their photos published in print or online.
Amateur and professional photographers, this contest is for you. Show us your most memorable images of wildlife and wild lands, from around the world and your own backyard. Your photos inspire our millions of members and supporters to care about wildlife and to act on its behalf. By submitting your work, you also support the National Wildlife Federation’s mission, ensuring wildlife and people thrive in a rapidly changing world. Good luck!
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