2024 Competition Results and Gallery

You can browse through each of the awarded images on this page, or click on the links below to jump to that section.

Photographer of the Year
Photograph of the Year
Grand Scenic
Intimate Landscapes
Abstracts and Details
Grant
Projects
Special Awards
Creative Icon
Environmental Wildlife
Common Places
Mountains
Water Worlds
Black and White
Nightscape
Environmental
Aerial

Photographer of the Year, Winner

Andrew Mielzynski

“I am overwhelmed, amazed, excited and deeply honoured to win the Natural Landscape Photography Award’s Photographer of the year award for 2024. The Natural Landscape Photography Awards are one of the biggest landscape competitions in the world, with a full range of categories that compliment many different genres in the landscape photography world. This contest is extremely prestigious and important for photographers who love traditional photography and who reject digital manipulation and AI. Their Golden Rule is that “The integrity of the subject should maintained” and to this end they ask for the original image to be submitted for inspection. Thank you to the founders and organizers of the competition for all their hard work, to the tireless and world class judges, the sponsors and to all my incredibly talented and dedicated fellow winners and photographic artists that entered this fabulous contest. I am very proud, thrilled and appreciative to be included in this group of very talented photographers.” – Andrew Mielzynski

Photographer of the Year, Runner Up

Tobias Richter

Photographer of the Year, Third Place

Sho Hoshino

Photographer of the Year, Fourth Place

David Kingham

Photographer of the Year, Highly Commended

Hans Gunnar Aslaksen

Photographer of the Year, Highly Commended

Theo Bosboom

Photographer of the Year, Highly Commended

Jurre Jan de Wit

Photograph of the Year

John Hardiman

“I’m honored to be selected for this year’s NLPA Photograph of the Year, where nature, art and expression are all valued as part of the photographic experience. I feel that landscape photography is about giving nature a voice, a voice that’s interpreted and shared through our presence.  

Grand Scenic

“I am incredibly honored to have won the Grand Scenic category. Much of my landscape photography has focused on the bigger picture as well as seeing beyond just a wide angle scene. What makes this even more fulfilling to me is that it is a photograph of a place that is so special to me for so many reasons, the Grand Canyon and also one of my favorite images I have made.  It’s easy to shoot wide from the rim of the Grand Canyon, but when you have such great atmospheric conditions as I did when I made this photograph, zooming in can bring out some truly grand moments that are often overlooked. A big thank you to all the judges for seeing something special in this particular image.” – Peter Coskun

Intimate Landscapes

“I am excited and filled with gratitude that one of my images was chosen as an exemplar of intimate landscape photography! Thank you to the founders, judges, and participants that join together year after year to elevate the art-form and improve the trust between natural landscape photographers and their audiences. I believe that it ultimately results in a greater love of the natural world for all.” – Brent Clark

Abstracts or Details

“Thank you to the founders & judges for their hard work bringing this year’s competition to life. It’s a wonderful honor to see my winning photograph alongside so much exceptional work. For years, Yosemite has been the primary focus of my artistic pursuits, and my goal is to make unique art that conveys the deep sense of mystery that the landscape evokes.

This photograph is my clearest expression of that mystery thus far, and I’m thrilled to share it with the world.” – Scott Oller

Project Winner, David Southern

Living on the Edge

“It is a great honour and a privilege to be the winner of Project of the Year. I have followed the NLPA since its inception and the ethos and qualities of the competition mirror my own values. It was a wonderful surprise to be announced as the winner. 

It is during the late spring and summer months when most species look at their best. It is also at this time of year that have the lowest ‘spring’ tides and when the kelp forests are fully exposed and the thongweed thrives.

Out at these furthest margins of the land surrounded by such elemental nature it is easy to forget that these important habitats are under threat. A changing climate is affecting the distribution of the kelp forests and marine pollution is evident in even the most remote stretches of coastline. Marine forests provide a vital role in capturing carbon as well as providing a nursery habitat for a myriad of marine creatures.

Project, Runner Up – Thomas Spinner

Volcanic Eruptions & Landscapes

Since the 2010s, I have climbed over 80 volcanoes. Since then, I have primarily photographed eruptions and beautiful landscapes.

It’s always fascinating to stand on the edge of a crater and look into the erupting chasm. You can feel the true power of nature. Incredible hellish noise, eruption, incredible amounts of ash, flying lava bombs and the smell of sulfur – so much is happening at the same time and is so incredible.

Pure Adrenaline. Adventure!

You can never have enough humility and respect when you’re standing there.

Project, Third Place – Andrew Baruffi

Formed.

I think humility and modesty are key to photography, and it’s not always easy to accept accomplishment no matter how personal the achievement is or how insignificant the success is to others. For the past 5 years I’ve been photographing the unique ice of Zion, and in that time these delicate formations have in turn formed and defined my work. Knowledge guides my creativity in the plentiful national park, and despite no longer living in the area, the occasional visit does prove that concepts gained are never lost with time. As difficult as it is to say, I’m proud of the rare scenes of ice that freeze a leaf in movement, bask in the evocative reflected light that Zion conveys so well, or simply shimmer in the ambient light that bounces among the geometric shapes and vivid textures. I’m grateful to have been formed by a place and a home, by my knowledge of a subject, and my own work over these past 5 years.

Project, Highly Commended – Eric Bennett

Space, Stillness, Silence

During a troubling time for myself and the world, I retreated to the desert backcountry not too far from my home for solace. Through photography, I tried my best to convey the space, stillness, and silence that I found to be so liberating and nourishing. Apart from just showing the beauty of the impressive geological wonders of this small corner of the Colorado Plateau, I hope that these images can express the value of the singular solitude, the quiet emptiness, that—in an increasingly noisy, busy, and crowded world—may one day vanish entirely. For it is equally worth preserving.

Project, Highly Commended – Benjamin Maze

Nothofagus Gunnii

A country filled to the brim with evergreen foliage, Australia is home to only one native species of temperate deciduous bush – Nothofagus Gunnii. Typically taking on the form of thick scrub or ground cover (though it can reach heights of up to 8 metres in the form of a tree), it resides solely in the temperate highlands of Tasmania. Related to Patagonia’s lenga trees (Nothofagus pumilio) via their ancient Gondwanaland connection, it turns vibrant shades of yellow, orange and red for a special few weeks a year. In this project I wanted to portray the beautiful and unique forms that “fagus” takes – from its ridged colourful leaves to its tangled white branches and patchwork-quilt-like ground cover, as well as its interactions with other elements in the landscape.

Project, Highly Commended – Felix Wesch

Birch Forest

I like to explore my own surroundings photographically. At some point I stumbled across this birch forest not far from my home. I fell instantly in love.

And so it came about that whenever the weather has promised fog in autumn over the last few years, I have visited this birch forest and hoped that there would be beautiful fog and I would get the chance to photograph it in these wonderful conditions.

I don’t even want to know how many other motifs I’ve missed because I’m so fixated on this one forest. It’s almost an addiction. But I always come home with a smile on my face when I get to spend a bit of time in the autumn mist with the birch trees again. Sometimes life is that easy.

NLPA Grant

Winner – Anders Thøstesen

Flying Rivers

This project is intended to visualize the concept of the Flying Rivers of the Amazon. While the Amazon River flows eastward, an even bigger portion of water flies westward in the shape of water vapor and clouds. All this water is transported through the evaporation of trees. The water cycle is not only providing the Amazon itself with water; it is vital to everything from cities in the Andes to agriculture in large parts of South America. While most people have seen photos of deforestation and understand the isolated problem, few understand the indirect consequences of deforestation: that this water cycle could be broken. The story will cover the *Flying Rivers* water cycle itself with water in all its forms, but also the actors relying on the water as well as the threats to the system. As with all things in the Amazon, there is a high level of entanglement with other issues providing good opportunities to connect this story and build on it.

Learn more about the NLPA Grant Program.

Special Awards

Creative Icon

Environmental Wildlife

Common Places

Mountains

Water Worlds

Black and White

Nightscape

Environmental

Aerial

Statistics

The 4th annual NLPA was quite competitive! 12,179 photographs were submitted to the competition by 1,134 photographers from 59 countries, including:

• 3,549 Grand Scenic photographs
• 3,930 Intimate Landscape photographs
• 1,778 Abstracts and Details photographs
• 308 Projects

Of these, 2,494 photographs made it to the RAW verification stage and final judging. From here, the judges narrowed down their top selections to just 126 photographs for the live finals, which lasted 6 hours via Zoom. Learn more about our rigorous and transparent judging process.