Nature offers extraordinary moments, from breathtaking wildlife encounters to fascinating behaviors that often go unnoticed. But photography can do more than capture the natural world's beauty. It can also reveal the challenges our planet faces and highlight the efforts being made to protect it. That's exactly what the OurNature Environmental Photo & Video Award aims to achieve, bringing together photographers and filmmakers who use their work to tell meaningful stories about nature, conservation, and humanity's relationship with the environment.
The award originated at the FotoKozma Outdoor Photography Festival, and the Vértes Kozma Foundation, founded by photographer Milan Radisics, promotes both. Now in its third edition, the international competition attracted more than 2,100 entries from 35 countries in 2026. Unlike traditional nature photography contests, OurNature emphasizes environmental storytelling, recognizing not only stunning images of wildlife and landscapes but also photographs that document human impacts on ecosystems and potential solutions to environmental challenges. Through these powerful visuals, the competition hopes to raise awareness, inspire conversations, and encourage positive change.
Below, we've gathered a selection of winning and honorable mention photographs from this year's competition. Take a look at these incredible images, and don't forget to let us know which ones impressed you the most!
#1 “Eye On The Prize” By Vince Burton
2nd Place in the Pure Nature - Air Category
Description: “A barn owl dives towards the camera, seen from the perspective of its prey. The image is part of my ongoing project photographing local barn owls at night. My aim was to capture the moment of attack from an unusual viewpoint — looking up at the approaching predator.”
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26points
The competition features several categories covering different aspects of the natural world and our relationship with it. The Pure Nature section is divided into Water, Land, and Air, celebrating wildlife and natural environments across these three settings. Meanwhile, Our Footprint focuses on humanity's impact on the planet, while Solutions highlights efforts and innovations addressing environmental problems. Additional categories include Carpathian Basin, Young Photographers, Photo Stories & Portfolios, and Video.
#2 “The Attack” By Damian Kwasek
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Air Category
Description: “A white-tailed eagle attacks a red fox in a rare encounter in the wild. With wings spread and talons extended, the eagle swoops down as the fox prepares to defend itself. The image was captured in a completely natural situation, without bait or any other intervention, freezing a tense moment between two predators.”
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23points
#3 “Dinner Is Served!” By Audun Rikardsen
1st Place in the Our Footprints Category
Location: Northern Norway
Description: “A humpback whale feeds beside a herring fishing vessel during the polar night, captured in a split image showing the scene both above and below the surface. Each winter, vast schools of Atlantic herring gather in the fjords of Northern Norway, attracting hundreds of humpback whales and orcas. The whales have learned that fishing vessels can provide an easy meal, allowing them to feed on concentrated herring without having to hunt. But this opportunity comes with serious risks: humpback whales can become entangled in fishing nets, causing injuries or drowning, while also damaging fishing equipment.”
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21points
This year's overall Photo of the Year award went to Norwegian photographer Audun Rikardsen for his remarkable image titled “A Seal's Nightmare.” The photograph captures a polar bear looking directly into an underwater camera through a breathing hole in the Arctic ice, offering an extraordinary perspective on one of the region's most powerful predators. Rikardsen also won the Pure Nature – Water and Our Footprint categories, making him one of the competition's standout photographers.
#4 “Please Help Me!” By Audun Rikardsen
Honorable Mention in the Our Footprints Category
Location: Northern Norway
Description: “A humpback whale struggles in the darkness of the polar night, entangled in a drifting sea anchor from a fishing vessel’s herring net. Unable to free itself, the desperate whale first approached my boat and then the nearest fishing vessel, almost as if asking for help. None of us had the equipment needed to release it, so I contacted the Norwegian fisheries patrol. They arrived with the necessary gear, and after a dramatic rescue operation, we finally managed to free the whale. Entanglement in fishing gear is a serious problem for whales worldwide, often resulting in severe injuries or drowning. This whale was one of the lucky ones.”
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19points
#5 “Hidden In Plain Sight” By Awais Ali Sheikh
1st Place in the Pure Nature - Land Category
Location: Ghalapan Village, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Description: “Two snow leopard cubs rest quietly among the rocks of the Himalayas. Perfectly camouflaged in their rugged habitat, they are almost invisible at first glance, their spotted coats blending seamlessly into the surrounding stone. Only after a few moments does the mountain reveal it’s secret.”
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18points
Another notable winner was Belgian documentary photographer Alain Schroeder, whose series “Saving Orangutans” earned the Best Photo Story award. Shot in Sumatra, Indonesia, the project documents conservation teams rescuing and rehabilitating orangutans affected by habitat destruction, human-wildlife conflict, and illegal wildlife trafficking. Meanwhile, Hungarian photographer Imre Potyó won the Carpathian Basin category with “Moonlight,” a mesmerizing long-exposure photograph revealing the glowing flight trails of winter moths in a moonlit forest.
#6 “The Guardian Of Silence” By Tibor Litauszki
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Land Category
Description: “A tawny owl rests in the hollow of an old oak tree in the cold winter forest. The image required careful planning: to achieve this unusual, close perspective, I positioned a GoPro action camera near the tree. The unconventional viewpoint offers a quiet, intimate glimpse into the owl’s hidden world.”
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18points
#7 “The Decisive Moment” By Turgay Uzer
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Air Category
Location: Pantanal, Brazil
Description: “A cormorant is about to catch a large spiny catfish it has tossed into the air. To swallow the fish safely, it must enter the bird’s throat headfirst and lengthwise. The cormorant had been tossing and repositioning its catch for more than an hour, trying to get it into exactly the right position. I captured the decisive moment from a boat on one of the side branches of the Rio Cuiabá.”
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17points
An international jury of photography professionals evaluated the submissions anonymously through a multi-stage selection process. Alongside technical quality and artistic merit, the judges considered originality, storytelling, and environmental relevance, reflecting the competition's belief that a photograph's message can be just as important as its visual impact.
#8 “Bat Rush” By Krisztina Szakolczai
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Air Category
Location: Costa Rica
Description: “Two bats fly in front of a flower while a third feeds on its nectar. The fast-moving nocturnal scene was frozen using four flashes, revealing a moment that would otherwise disappear into the darkness of the rainforest.”
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16points
#9 “Clash Of The Titans” By Norbert Kaszás
Honorable Mention in the Carpathian Basin Category
Description: “Two ants battle each other, their tiny bodies outlined by backlight and making the encounter appear almost monumental. I was photographing fungi and searching for smaller species when I noticed the fighting ants. I quickly placed my flash behind them to capture the struggle in backlight. From there, it was a matter of finding the right moment and focus — no easy task with two constantly moving subjects.”
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14points
The judges announced the 2026 winners on October 15 at the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center in Budapest, Hungary. A selection of winning and finalist photographs is also on display in a free outdoor exhibition at the city's Széna Square, bringing environmental photography beyond gallery walls and into public space. Through initiatives like this, OurNature hopes to reach wider audiences and demonstrate how powerful visual storytelling can help people connect with the natural world and the challenges it faces.
#10 “Hoopoe” By István Hogya
Honorable Mention in the Carpathian Basin Category
Description: “A hoopoe arrives with prey in its beak, but instead of using its usual perch, it lands on an old farm fence. The weathered wood and the bird’s distinctive silhouette capture the atmosphere of the traditional rural landscape.”
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14points
#11 “Midnight Whispers” By Julián Fernandez Quilez
2nd Place in the Our Footprints Category
Location: Hellín, Spain
Description: “Two common genets prowl at night, moving along the bars of a window in search of food. Behind them, an enormous Moon fills the background, creating an almost surreal setting for the nocturnal scene. The photograph is a single exposure, with no compositing or multiple exposures. The Moon’s unusual size and position are the result of perspective, distance and the optical effect of the lens.”
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14points
#12 “Night Feeding Humpback Whales” By Audun Rikardsen
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Water Category
Location: Northern Norway
Description: “A humpback whale feeds on Atlantic herring in the darkness of the polar night, while gulls gather above for their share of the feast. Each winter, vast schools of herring migrate into the fjords of Northern Norway, attracting hundreds of humpback whales and orcas. With the sun below the horizon for weeks, much of the feeding takes place in complete darkness. To photograph it, I developed a system combining a powerful torch and flash, using the whales’ sounds and infrared binoculars to locate them in the dark. As the whales drive the herring towards the surface, the gulls seize the opportunity for an easy meal.”
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14points
#13 “A Seal's Nightmare” By Audun Rikardsen
OurNature Image of the Year
1st Place in the Pure Nature - Water Category
1st Place in the Our Footprints Category
1st Place in the Pure Nature - Water Category
1st Place in the Our Footprints Category
Description: “A polar bear peers through a seal’s breathing hole in the ice, looking straight into the camera positioned below.
For years, I had dreamed of photographing a polar bear’s hunting technique from a seal’s perspective. At 83°N, among the dense drift ice, I placed my camera beneath a seal’s breathing hole. After eight hours of waiting, a polar bear appeared, broke through the thin layer of ice covering the hole and looked directly into my camera. It then lay down and slept for nine hours, leaving me unable to retrieve the camera. When I finally saw the image, I knew I had captured the polar bear photograph I had dreamed of for years.”
For years, I had dreamed of photographing a polar bear’s hunting technique from a seal’s perspective. At 83°N, among the dense drift ice, I placed my camera beneath a seal’s breathing hole. After eight hours of waiting, a polar bear appeared, broke through the thin layer of ice covering the hole and looked directly into my camera. It then lay down and slept for nine hours, leaving me unable to retrieve the camera. When I finally saw the image, I knew I had captured the polar bear photograph I had dreamed of for years.”
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13points
#14 “Fairy Of The Forest” By Julián Fernandez Quilez
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Land Category
Description: “A dragonfly rests in the early morning light, surrounded by tiny circles of light created by droplets of moisture on the vegetation. I waited for the mist to slowly begin to lift and for the first rays of sunlight to filter through the plants. The low, golden light illuminated the dragonfly, while reflections from the droplets transformed the background, giving the scene an almost magical atmosphere.”
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13points
#15 “Hyena At Waterhole” By Hira Punjabi
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Water Category
Location: Shompole Nature Conservancy, Kenya
Description: “A hyena approaches a waterhole at night. The scene was illuminated by LED light, whose frequency created an unusual ghost-like trace around the animal’s silhouette. This technical effect became the defining visual element of the image.”
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13points
#16 “Moonlight” By Imre Potyó
1st Place in the Carpathian Basin Category
Location: Börzsöny, Hungary
Description: “The flight paths of winter moth trace delicate lines through a moonlit forest during a single 108-second exposure. Surprisingly, these moths can be found in the cold, dark forest in late autumn and winter, sometimes even flying during light snowfall. I have been photographing winter moths since 2016, but had never encountered conditions quite like these. I set up my camera beneath a huge beech tree just as the Moon moved into the right position, illuminating the last reddish leaves from behind and creating a remarkable backdrop for the flying moths. Only one successful image was made. The following night the Moon rose later, temperatures dropped, clouds arrived, and within days the last leaves had fallen.”
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13points
#17 “On The Ridge” By Igor Bodnar
Honorable Mention in the Young Photographers Category
Location: Białowieża Forest, Poland
Description: “Five young red deer stags stand together on a ridge in the early morning light. Their figures outlined against the elevated landscape create a simple, almost graphic composition within the quiet surroundings. The photograph was taken during an early morning wildlife observation session while watching deer in the meadows surrounding the Białowieża Forest.”
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13points
#18 “At The Edge Of Light” By Márton János Nagy
Honorable Mention in the Young Photographers Category
Location: Bükk National Park, Hungary
Description: “A wood mouse rises on its hind legs among the leaf litter, its silhouette outlined together with the dry vegetation in the backlight. During an evening walk, I noticed its acrobatic movements in an abandoned area slowly being reclaimed by woodland. For weeks, I experimented with different lighting to capture the scene. Eventually, I caught the moment when the backlight also revealed the animal’s characteristic behavior.”
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12points
#19 “Crate Colony” By Alex Pansier
Best Collection in the Solutions Category
Description: “A colony of black-legged kittiwakes has turned a wall of stacked plastic crates into a nesting site. Seen from the front, the crates resemble a multi-story apartment building, with each bird or pair occupying its own small compartment. The repeating shapes create an unusual sense of order within the busy colony.”
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12points
#20 “Forest Among The Clouds” By Balázs Ravasz
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Land Category
Location: Triglav National Park, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
Description: “After sunrise, rays of light break through the mountains, turning the swirling clouds of mist orange and red. Forests and mountain slopes emerge from the fog, creating the impression of a dreamlike world floating above the clouds. It was a remarkable morning when, for a few brief minutes, light, mist and landscape came together in perfect harmony.”
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12points
