World Nature Photography Awards 2025 Winners Capture Nature’s Jaw-Dropping Beauty
The World Nature Photography Awards (WNPA) 2025 winners showcase the immense beauty found in nature, including striking wildlife, colorful plants, and sweeping landscapes.
Photographers from nearly 50 countries entered this year’s contest, competing across 14 categories. Each category featured below features gold, silver, and bronze winners. However, the competition also includes a grand prize of $1,000 and the title “World Nature Photographer of the Year.”
Slovenian photographer Maruša Puhek is this year’s overall winner. She took top honors for her incredible shot of two deer running through a Slovenian vineyard. Puhek also won the gold award in the “Nature — Art” category for the shot.
“I’m still in shock. This win means the world to me,” Puhek says. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity and it came at exactly the right time in my life.”
Pukeh explains that the winning photo was part of her 366 project, when she captured one image every day during 2024, a leap year. She carried her camera everywhere she went.
“It was a snowy day and I only had a wide-angle lens with me when I spotted two deer running through the snowy vineyard. I took a few shots, frustrated that I didn’t have a telephoto lens with me,” Puhek says. “Only later, while editing, did I realize how lucky I was; the scene wasn’t overly zoomed in, allowing the snowy surroundings to remain an essential part of the composition.”
“As always, it’s such a thrill to witness the amazing caliber of entries into the awards. Seeing these images cannot fail to motivate one to do everything to protect this fragile planet of ours. We offer our heartfelt congratulations to all the winners,” says Adrian Dinsdale, co-founder of the World Nature Photography Awards.
Dinsdale hits the nail on the head. Photographers entered many spectacular photos, and all the award-winning images are showcased below, separated by category.
Category Winners
Animal Portraits
Animals in Their Habitat
Behavior — Amphibians and Reptiles
Behavior — Birds
Behavior — Invertebrates
Behavior — Mammals
Black and White
Nature — Art
Nature — Photojournalism
People and Nature
Planet Earth’s Landscapes and Environments
Plants and Fungi
Underwater
Urban Wildlife
Many photos from this year’s World Nature Photography Awards and prior editions of the contest are available for purchase as wall art from the WNPA’s website. The 2026 World Nature Photography Awards are also now open for entries.
Image credits: World Nature Photography Awards. Photographers are credited in the individual image captions.
