Categories and Prizes
This page outlines the various categories, awards and prizes available for 2026.
$16,500 in cash, $2,185 in tripods, and $735 in NPN subscriptions.
Every winning photographer (17 in total) and 100+ stand-out photographers will also receive a free copy of our annual fine art book, totalling $8,000 in value.
Natural Landscape Photographer of the Year
The Natural Landscape Photographer of the Year is awarded to the photographer with the best collection of 6 images. In contrast to the Project Award below, these images do not need to relate to one another and should display a variety of content, techniques and approaches. You will automatically be considered for the award if you enter 6 or more images in any category except Project Award entries, which are excluded (but you may enter your Project images separately for consideration). Judges will be instructed to evaluate the best overall portfolio of images with an emphasis on a diversity of subject matter and technique (wide angle, telephoto, macro, aerial). While a photographer may be eligible to win as a “specialist,” i.e. macro/aerial, a strong preference will be given to those with wide representation in their portfolio of submissions. The winner and runner up will be excluded from winning other prizes. Lastly, this coveted top prize may only be won once in a photographer’s lifetime.
First Place: Cash Prize of US $5,000 and first choice from our FLM tripod pool.
Runner-up: Cash Prize of US $1,000.
Natural Landscape Photograph of the Year
Awarded to the single best image entered into the competition, in any category. Winning this award precludes winning any of the category prizes.
First Place: Cash Prize of US $1,000.
Project of the Year
A collection of 6-10 images that relate to one another in a way that is entirely up to the photographer. For example the images might show a particular geographic region, or show abstract textures, or tell a story, or illuminate a concept, or any combination! Accompanying the photographs will be the photographer’s explanation of the theme which will be read by the judges when considering the project.
Please note – This award is totally separate from the other categories and judged in isolation. For a good primer on project-based submissions, we recommend reading Theo Bosboom’s article.
First Place: Cash Prize of US $1,500, and second choice from our FLM tripod pool.
Runner-Up: Cash Prize of US $500.
Project Example
We’ve included an example from the 1st year of the competition – a wonderful entry from Theo Bosboom.
European Canyons by Theo Bosboom
My project aims to highlight the beauty, diversity, and importance of European canyons and gorges. Shaped by the powerful forces of water from many thousands or even millions of years, canyons are very interesting from a geological point of view. Because they are usually hard to negotiate and only partly accessible – in the right conditions – they are among the wildest places in Europe and often have a wonderful, untouched and diverse vegetation. Last but not least, canyons and gorges have always instilled fear in people and in many places they were thought to be inhabited by ghosts or the devil. You can still see this in the names of the canyons, bridges, tracks, or points within.
This seleection contains images taken in some of Europe’s most intesting canyons and gorges, in different seaons and conditions, including Sicily (Italy), Germany, Sweden, Iceland, and Norway.
Grand Landscape
These images almost always include a sky and a foreground, have multiple subjects, and are generally captured at a wider angle, but not always.
Grand Landscape Award:
Cash Prize of US $1,000.
See inspiration and examples from previous years.
Grand Landscape Photo by Benjamin Maze
Intimate Landscape
These photographs can be created at any focal length (but usually using a mid-range or telephoto focal length) and generally show a smaller selection of a larger scene. Generally, these images do not include a sky. For example, this might be a waterfall with towering cliffs, a single tree in the mist, or a woodland interior.
Intimate Landscape Award:
Cash Prize of US $1,000.
See inspiration and examples for this category.
Intimate Landscape Photograph by Yuya Wakamatsu
Abstract Landscape
An abstract image relies on subject and/or scale ambiguity and should be a non-representative interpretation of nature and the landscape. It can be a scene of any scale. These photographs use angles, compositions, and patterns to create images that evoke emotions and challenge the viewer’s perception of the world.
Abstract Landscape Award:
Cash Prize of US $1,000.
See inspiration and examples for this category.
Abstract Landscape Photo by Pal Hermansen
Special Awards
Every image entered into the main categories may also be entered into each of the below awards which are set up to ensure that a wide variety of sub-genres of landscape photography are recognized by the competition. You may enter your image(s) into as many special awards as you’d like using the checkboxes in our entry page, but you’ll want to ensure it actually makes sense to include it there. These special awards change each year!
Prize: $500 per award.
Black and White
What’s more classic than black and white in landscape photography?! We love seeing the creative entries in this special award each and every year, and are consistently blown away by the entries. Be sure to check out the rules page to ensure your black and white photographs meet our requirements.
Black and White Award: $500.
Black and White photograph by Joy Kachina
Multiple Exposure and ICM
(New in 2026)
This new special award celebrates creative expression achieved through in-camera multiple exposure techniques. Entries should demonstrate artistic use of layering, blending, or abstraction while maintaining an authentic connection to the natural landscape. We anticipate we will get quite a few questions about this one, so see our updated notes in the Rules page!
This award recognizes photographers who push the boundaries of creativity within the discipline of authentic capture.
Multiple Exposure and ICM Award: $500.
Multiple Exposure Photograph by Matt Payne
Night
This award celebrates the quiet drama of the world after dark. From starlit peaks to moonlit forests, from bioluminescent tidepools to the glow of the Milky Way arcing over wild terrain, we seek photographs that honor the mystery and atmosphere of nighttime in natural landscapes. Images should evoke a sense of wonder while maintaining the subtlety and restraint that nighttime environments deserve.
Night Award: $500.
Night Photograph by Joshua Wallace
Mountains
Honoring the enduring power of the earth’s great cathedrals, this award celebrates photographs that capture the spirit, form, and presence of mountainous landscapes. Whether it is the clean geometry of a distant ridge, the rugged texture of a granite wall, or the shifting light across alpine summits, we are looking for images that convey a deep respect for high places and the stories they hold.
Mountains Award: $500.
Mountains by David Tolcher
Fungi and Lichens
New in 2026!
Celebrating the quiet kingdoms beneath our feet, this special award honors photographs that highlight the extraordinary world of fungi and lichens in their natural landscapes. From the luminous sheen of lichen-covered stone to the intricate architecture of mushrooms rising from the forest floor, we seek images that reveal the subtle beauty, ecological importance, and often-overlooked drama of these organisms. Successful entries will showcase authenticity, field craft, and creative vision while staying true to the NLPA commitment to honest representation of the natural world.
Fungi and Lichens Award: $500.
Fungi and Lichens Photograph by Albert Dros
Waterscapes
This award celebrates the many moods and movements of water as it shapes the natural world. From the quiet mirror of an alpine lake to the thunderous plunge of a waterfall, from tidal rhythms along the coast to the braided patterns of a river system, we welcome photographs that honor water’s presence in all its forms. Successful entries should reflect the power, grace, and character of these environments while remaining faithful to the NLPA principles of authenticity, skilled field craft, and truthful depiction.
Waterscapes Award: $500.
Waterscapes Photo by Robert Birkby
Common Places
This award celebrates the extraordinary hidden within the everyday. We honor photographs that elevate familiar, close-to-home subjects through careful observation, thoughtful composition, and genuine connection. Whether it is a backyard stand of trees, a neighborhood creek, or a humble patch of weeds catching morning light, we seek images that reveal the beauty, nuance, and meaning found in the places we often overlook.
Common Places Award: $500.
Common Places Photo by Patrick Krohn
Frozen Worlds
This award celebrates the stark beauty and quiet power of winter’s domain. From sculpted ice formations and frost-laden forests to glaciers, snowfields, and frozen lakes, we welcome photographs that honor the elegance and resilience of cold environments. Successful images will evoke the stillness, tension, and fragile complexity of landscapes shaped by ice and snow.
Frozen Worlds Award: $500.
Frozen Worlds Photograph by Vojtech Schmidt
Thank you to our Sponsors
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FLM Tripod Prize Pool
FLM Tripods have provided us with three amazing tripods which will be distributed to award winners.
The Photographer of the Year will have first choice, and the winner of the Project of the Year will have second choice. The prize pool is comprised of these two great tripods:
FLM began in 1994 as a small family business focused on metrology and supplying ball heads for industrial and scientific applications. The original owners gradually developed what are today’s FLM ball heads, and early versions of FLM tripods.
Throughout its history, FLM has always been about quality and precision, using the best materials and offering unparalled value. None of that has changed, as FLM’s new Series II tripods are being recognized as among the best in the world.
