44 Breathtaking Nature Photos That Stood Out At The 2026 Academy Photo Awards

Aerial photography of Lake Magadi, Kenya coinciding with the rapid transition from the rainy season to the dry season. I was fortunate to have caught this opportunity, and groups of flamingos came to cheer up, bestowing a dreamy beauty from heaven.

A group of ants working together to bring food to their nest.

Vietnamese workers sits surrounded by thousands of incense sticks in Quang Phu Cau, a village in Hanoi, Vietnam, where the sticks have been traditionally made for hundreds of years. Incense plays an important role in the spiritual lives of Vietnamese people. People use incense in all worship activities. The bamboo bundles are arranged on the ground on sunny days so as to dry them. To make the incense sticks the bamboo is first split in two, cleaned and dusted and then a third of the stick is coloured red, purple or yellow. To dry them the sticks are laid out on the ground or road-side for about one day. After they have dried, the sticks are collected and put into bunches of about ten and these are fastened together. They are then sold around the provinces.

A huge garbage dump on the banks of the city's river where the daily waste of the entire area is dumped and left to accumulate. The piles are filled with countless plastic products, rotting animal carcasses and household debris. The air is pungent, full of stench and the scene is equally disturbing: weeds, broken toys, torn clothes and polythene bags piled up with the rotting garbage.

Despite the pollution, life persists. In the dirt, sturdy plants struggle to grow, while birds, cows and buffaloes forage through the waste in search of food.Due to the lack of food in the entire urban area, street animals do not get food, so they survive by eating the waste, rotten, and dirty food found in this garbage.

Even some people even collect plastic bottles or plastic items from this place and sell them to various plastic manufacturers, to raise money for their daily food.

Night panorama taked in the Teide National Park of Tenerife, Spain.

While photographing subjects with the moon in the background, I found this small subject and captured this night macro photograph.

From a scenic overlook on UNESCO World Heritage Site Mt. Yoshino, this shot captures the rare "Thousand Cherry Trees at a Glance" spectacle. Over 30,000 cherry trees bloom in waves of pink, cascading down the sacred mountain slopes. The winding road cuts through the sea of blossoms, with hikers pausing to witness this fleeting natural masterpiece. It blends breathtaking scale with quiet, cinematic beauty, revealing Japan’s most revered spring tradition.

Captured in Yosemite during the fleeting Firefall phenomenon, this image showcases Horsetail Fall as it ignites in a vivid cascade of molten orange. For just a few moments at sunset, the angle of the sun transforms the waterfall into what appears to be flowing fire, contrasting dramatically against the cool, shadowed granite face. The surrounding darkness frames the glowing fall, emphasizing both its intensity and its rarity—a brief, natural spectacle where light, water, and timing align in perfect harmony.

This photograph was taken on September 27, 2023, during the late monsoon season in rural Bangladesh, where seasonal rangelands remain flooded for several months each year before transforming back into grazing fields in the dry season. While exploring the area in the evening, I noticed a farmer guiding his herd of cattle across the shallow flooded landscape as they returned home at sunset. I launched my drone to capture this aerial perspective, revealing the delicate interaction between livestock movement and seasonal wetlands. Later, the farmer explained that due to submerged grasslands, they walk their cattle daily to higher ground for grazing and return each evening. The image reflects the resilience of pastoral communities and the dynamic relationship between climate, water, and rangeland ecosystems that sustain rural livelihoods.

I went to Lake Boora in County Offaly in Ireland very early in the morning. The combination of the fog and rising sun was magical, but something was missing. Suddenly two Gesees showed up and I did not hesitate to take this picture.

The silhouette of a lizard silently approaching its prey under the sunlight.

In the Mundari cattle camps, kids are doing most of the daily work. Kids collect the fresh cow dung and put it into piles which are then set on fire. Those fire are useful as they repel the (extremely) numerous and voracious flies and mosquitoes of the South Sudanese countryside. The Mundari also use the ash created by these fires to rub on themselves and their cattle, creating a protection against mosquitoes.

In a valley in the Icelandic Highlands, water finds its way, shaping the land into majestic forms, symbolizing resilience and interconnectedness. Rivulets, streams, and brooks seemingly run over and under each other, crossing, parting, and melting again, creating wonderful abstracts that let your fantasy run.

Captured from a unique aerial perspective, this 360-degree panoramic photograph plunges viewers into a scene of raw, untamed majesty at the remote fringes of civilization. A verdant island rises dramatically from the dark, churning sea, its precipitous cliffs carved by relentless elements. Under a brooding, cloud-laden sky, a solitary waterfall cascades, marking a poignant boundary between land and ocean. This immersive image is a powerful testament to nature's sublime desolation, inviting contemplation of the vast, wild beauty found where the very edge of the world meets the infinite.

I have battled anxiety and depression for most of my life. The one place that I have always found solitude is in nature. I picked up a camera almost a decade ago and went through many different endeavors before I found shooting storms in 2019. The second I got my first lightning bolt I was hooked. I have been chasing storms ever since. The solitude and peace that I have found in chasing storms has been life changing. Even through the chaos, danger, and uncertainty of chasing storms, it provides a calm and peace within unlike almost anything else I have experienced. Being able to capture these ethereal, ephemeral moments in order to bring them back to the world for others to enjoy has been one of the greatest honors I have ever had in my life. The passion, purpose, and meaning that I have gleaned from chasing light in the darkness and becoming a metaphor for others to follow has meant more than I can ever express.

Flamingos travel a long distance each year with the arrival of spring and immerse themselves in lakes where food sources are abundant. They roam these areas in small groups.

Under the soft interplay of light and shadow in the Abudhabi Liwa Desert, a solitary figure pauses with a camel, creating an intimate moment within an immense landscape. The monochrome treatment enhances the sculptural beauty of the dunes, guiding the viewer’s eye toward a story of companionship, resilience, and harmony with nature.

This photograph serves as a reminder of the vital importance of managing our resources wisely in an era where water is receding meter by meter and the soil is becoming exhausted. The marks are not a signature etched on the earth; they are a silent cry from the water and the soil.

Off the coast of La Ventana in Baja California Sur, a graceful squadron of mobula rays glides just beneath the surface. From above, their shadows ripple through the turquoise water like a living pattern, silent and perfectly in sync. These rays are known for gathering in massive groups during their migration, and witnessing them from the air reveals the quiet beauty of their movement. Baja is one of the few places on Earth where you can see this spectacle so clearly.

I took this photo while flying by paraglider over Maharlu Lake in Iran.