81 Pics That Prove Nature Never Runs Out Of Surprises From The 2026 NLPA Awards

An extraordinary high-altitude desert in the Argentine Andes. Its otherworldly, Martian landscape is shaped by wind and coloured red by iron oxides. Is there anybody out there?

Award: Grand Landscape, Runner Up

A single, heart-shaped leaf drifts on an autumn stream in Den Bosch, its gentle flow creating rhythmic reflections beneath a bridge. The scene evokes a love poem in nature, with each ripple as a line and the leaf a symbol of fleeting beauty

Award: Intimate Landscape, Third Place

On a September morning just after sunrise, I was photographing in the Montferland area of the eastern Netherlands when I noticed these beautiful sunrays breaking through the fog over the treetops. I had originally gone out to photograph a forest road as part of an ongoing project, but this scene immediately changed my plans. It was a moment of real awe, made even more special by finding it in a familiar forest close to home.

Award: Platinum Palladium, Third Place

Award: Projects, Fourth Place

Three backlit pine trees standing above the frozen Caledonian forest.

Award: Projects, Runner Up

Award: Multiple Exposure and ICM, Third Place

Two pines standing on a peak in Pollino National Park after the first snowfall of the incoming winter.

Award: Projects, Third Place

The final stage of an unbelievable sunrise amongst the mighty peaks of Scotland's highlands. After photographing this composition the day before, I returned just as light beams began to run through the valleys, bursting through the clouds and onto the landscape below. For a brief period of time, it lit up my Torridonian sandstone foreground as well as the valleys perfectly in a golden glow.

Award: Mountains, Winner

As the sun sets behind the hills, the final light of day catches these Canary pines (Pinus canariensis), making them glow in strong contrast to the shadowed forest behind them. Taken in Gran Canaria, Spain.

Award: Projects, Winner

On an unseasonably warm December day on the northern shore of Lake Ontario in Canada, I found a devil. Okay, not a devil, but an anomaly, so it was just as surprising, trust me. Fungi in northern latitudes tend to shrivel and die long before the Christmas shopping season has started, but this robust bunch found a convivial home in the crook of a toppled shore tree long into its journey of rotting into nothingness. An equally convivial lashing rain joined the merry scene, adding a certain shiny definition to the tree, and hence, more drama was achieved. Then I took a photo of it and hiked back to warmer environs. I would do it again.

Award: Fungi and Lichen, Winner

In a place I often visit and only a few miles out of the city I live in, I caught this scene from a perspective I'd previously not seen. The leaves had fully dropped and the air was cold on this early winter day, revealing the structures of willows and aspens at the edge of the grasses. I was captivated by the visual flow created by the grasses leading through the frame, as well as the color contrast and texture in the scene overall.

Award: Common Places, Winner

A remote area of the Mojave Desert is coated in beautiful frost - a rarity for a predominantly hot and dry landscape.

Award: Intimate Landscape, Runner Up

In March, the conditions at this iconic Swiss mountain lake have been nearly perfect for a mystical atmosphere during the night. A friend and I met there after a hike through the fresh snow, and we were pretty excited about the scenery we got. The low clouds, fresh snow, and the perfect reflection combined with the moonlight created outstanding conditions for taking photos.

Award: Night, Runner Up

View of the Lyngen Alps from a hike to Blåisvatnet. Near the final stretch of the hike, I found some untouched snow and these two birch trees framing the mountains as if they're acknowledging their majesty. I initially photographed this frame in direct light, but waiting past sunset brought the best conditions with a gentle glow on the peaks and soft purples in the sky. As the temperature was around -18°C, I walked and jogged in circles to keep myself warm, observing the scene as the light progressed. Eventually, the satisfaction of getting the best out of the photograph overcame the painful cold. Taken in Troms, Norway.

Award: Mountains, Runner Up

A notch in the canyon wall allows the late afternoon sun to illuminate a single ponderosa pine growing on the banks of the South Fork Boise River, in Idaho, USA.

Award: Black and White, Runner Up

Intense morning light on a Scots pine and frozen heather, with an upright pine snag behind.

Award: Projects, Runner Up

The Caledonian forest transformed by frost in the depths of winter, as the morning fog was dispersing.

Award: Projects, Runner Up

Diamond dust is a phenomenon typically seen in polar regions, in temperatures less than -10C. I have been lucky to witness this a couple of times in Scotland, which I believe is really quite rare. Tiny ice particles suspended in the air were almost lifelike as they darted around, backlit by the morning sun.

Award: Projects, Runner Up

Frosted grass at the waters edge.

Award: Projects, Runner Up

"On my journey to northern Norway, I photographed this frozen waterfall in Finland with my drone. From above, a lone tree stands out against the pale layers of ice covering the cliff, its dark branches bringing a sense of scale to the scene.

Hasselblad L3D-100c · 14.5 mm (28 mm equivalent) · 1/800 s · f/2 · ISO 400"

Award: Frozen Worlds, Third Place