The Splendid Nature Photos That Won NANPA’s 2024 Showcase

Jeremy Gray
NANPA Showcase 2024
The winners of the North American Nature Photography Association’s 2024 Showcase. | Image credits, clockwise from the top left: Tim W. Oliver, Kevin Dooley, Chris Bartell, Stephanie Becker, Heather Valey, and Thomas Myers.

The North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) has announced the winners of the 2024 edition of its flagship photo contest, the NANPA Showcase. Featuring 24 beautiful winning images across six categories, the 2024 Showcase delivers some of the most spectacular nature photography of the year.

The contest’s judging panel selected “Best in Category,” “First Runner Up,” and a pair of “Judges’ Choice” selections across each of the six categories: Birds, Mammals, ‘Scapes, Altered Reality, Conservation, and Macro/Micro/All Other Wildlife. The top four images in each category are featured below. Some photographers also provided additional information about their winning photos, which is included in the captions.

Birds

NANPA Showcase 2024
Winner | © Tim W. Oliver / Gilbert, Arizona / Anna’s hummingbird attempting to quench thirst on a hot summer afternoon in Arizona.
NANPA Showcase 2024
First Runner-Up | © William Halladay / Provincia de Alajuela, Costa Rica / This Scarlet Macaw was flying by on its way to a perch when it looked over to see me pointing my camera at it. Luckily I was shooting at the precise moment it saw me.
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © Owen Deutsch / Maui, Hawaii / I’iwi perching upside down.
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © John Ehrenfeld / San Francisco Bay, CA / Sky Surfing’.

Mammals

NANPA Showcase 2024
Winner | © Kevin Dooley / Botswana / Protection of the Herd.
NANPA Showcase 2024
First Runner-Up | © Jennifer Smith / Katmai National Park / Looking For the Off Switch!
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © Bruce D Taubert / At a waterhole near Cave Creek, Arizona / A mule deer doe and her fawn are drinking at a desert waterhole at sunset. Fawn mule deer are normally birthed in late July in the Sonoran desert of Arizona.
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © Carol Grenier / Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming / Members of the Wapiti Lake pack had frequent interactions, re-establishing bonds and confirming the pack hierarchy.

‘Scapes

NANPA Showcase 2024
Winner | © Chris Bartell / Lavender Field in Hood River, Oregon / Lavender Dreamscape – Milkyway in the lavender field during the summer.
NANPA Showcase 2024
First Runner-Up | © Carl Johnson / Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska / A flock of Sandhill cranes head south as a thick lenticular cloud hovers over the summit of Denali. This is one of my favorite aspects of visiting the park in the autumn. To be out hiking on the tundra and hear the calls of Sandhill cranes as they pass overhead on their way south is peaceful, elating and part of how I can really feel autumn in my bones.
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © Joyce Harman / Near Hanksville, Utah / Flying my drone over this landscape was one of the most amazing things i have done photographically. The soft early morning light added texture to the landscape. I played around with compostion until I had a nice background.
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © Larkin Nature Photos / Columbia River Gorge, Oregon / Columbia River Gorge Sunset/This photo was taken in May at peak wildflower bloom when yellow Balsamroot and Lupine file the hillsides.

Altered Reality

NANPA Showcase 2024
Winner | © Stephanie Becker / Moraga, CA USA / For a year and a half I took photos of the moon during the pandemic and created this collage. Amidst a time of isolation and uncertainty, the moon became a comforting companion, reminding humanity that even in the darkest of nights, there exists a celestial light to guide us towards brighter days.
NANPA Showcase 2024
First Runner-Up © Joyce Harman / Northern VIrginia / After capturing the flow of this dying flower, I wanted to add an artistic look and enhance the flow of the petals. I used one of my favorite apps with several layers to bring out the textures without losing the feel of the flower.
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © Marty Purdy / Christmas, Florida / Checking out the Nest’. A Roseate Spoonbill busy with nest building activities, descends to check out his progress.
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © Andy Wolcott / Tanzania, Ndutu Region, Ngorongoro Conservancy / Let It Snow!’ These young jackals will never see snow. Yet, their luxurious coats, dappled with white, certainly suggest a wintry day. Two youngsters stopped their boisterous play long enough to assess whether or not that camera thing was a threat and, deciding it wasn’t, resumed a spirited game of tag.

Conservation

NANPA Showcase 2024
Winner © Heather Valey / Centennial, Colorado / In The Middle of it All / The prairie dog colony on this construction lot was bulldozed alive, killing most of the animals on the site. A survivor sits in the middle of the action. He unknowingly will be subject to the same fate.
NANPA Showcase 2024
First Runner-Up | © Ryan Wagner / Hebron, Ohio / Dogpile – A pile of a dozen dead coyotes at a hunting contest in north central Ohio. Hunting teams spend three days shooting as many coyotes as they can. Over 150 coyotes are harvested for this competition, one of dozens like it throughout the state. Following awards for heaviest coyote and most kills, carcasses are haphazardly discarded. No part of the coyotes is used. This image captures the detached and callous nature with which we approach other living beings.
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © Dan Mele / U.S. Virgin Islands / Corals Last Hope – Just before sunset, the Grooved Brain Coral spawns in a coral restoration laboratory. The tiny pink bundles of sperm and egg float to the surface where scientists collect them. Through assisted fertilization with other conspecifics, this is the best chance for many corals to create the Grooved Brain Corals of tomorrow.
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © Wayne Wolfersberger / Yellowstone National Park / Fishing Line Captures Raven

Macro, Micro, and All Other Wildlife

NANPA Showcase 2024
Winner | © Thomas Myers / Ecuador / Ant tending membracids.
NANPA Showcase 2024
First Runner-Up | © Chris Higgs Photography / Phil Foster Park, Riviera Beach, FL / Next Generation.
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © Kathy Raffel / Sarapiqui, Costa Rica / Within a few feet of the trail, we spotted a basilisk lizard which had just caught a coffee snake. We watched in amazement as the snake struggled to get free. Over about five minutes, the lizard gradually began swallowing the snake. The snake twisted and pulled right up until the last moments when it disappeared down the lizard’s throat.
NANPA Showcase 2024
Judges’ Choice | © Chris Higgs Photography / Phil Foster Park, Riviera Beach, FL / Old Blue Eyes.

More From the NANPA 2024 Showcase

Alongside the images above, the judges also selected Top 100 and Top 250 photos from each category, all of which can be seen on the NANPA 2024 Showcase website.

All Top 250 winners will be featured in both digital and printed editions of NANPA’s Expressions publication, the organization’s showcase retrospective. The organization says Expressions will be available early next year.

Update: Two image captions (Heather Valey’s winning image in Conservation and Joyce Harman’s First Runner-up photo in Altered Reality) have been edited.

Image credits: All images courtesy of the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA). Individual photographers are credited in the photo captions.

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