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!
#41 “Carp Family” By Ferenc Ifj. Lőrincz
Honorable Mention in the Carpathian Basin Category
Location: Feketenyék (Čierna Voda), Slovakia
Description: “A fully scaled carp and two mirror carp nestle side by side among submerged branches, as if gathering for a family portrait. Above their golden bodies and silent conversation, sunlight pierces the blue stillness of the water. I took this photograph underwater in the lake at Feketenyék (Čierna Voda) on 16 August 2026, using a Nikon Z8 with an 8–15 mm fisheye lens.”
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8points
#42 “I Can See A Lot From Up Here” By Marina Gavrikova
Honorable Mention in the Young Photographers Category
Location: Samur River Delta, Dagestan, Russia
Description: “A tree frog climbs among the branches before pausing at a higher vantage point to survey its surroundings. Perhaps it is listening to the call of another tree frog from a nearby tree. The image was taken in the remarkable liana forest of the Samur River Delta. Fed by river branches and spring-fed streams, its wetlands, shallow lakes and lagoons support lush vegetation and an exceptionally rich diversity of wildlife.”
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8points
#43 “Pipe Of Pollution” By Julián Fernandez Quilez
Honorable Mention in the Our Footprints Category
Location: Hellín, Spain
Description: “A common moorhen stands in murky water in front of a drain filled with waste. Photographed from inside the pipe using a wide-angle lens and remote trigger, the image places human waste and wildlife within the same perspective. Rubbish and polluted water have become part of this animal’s everyday environment. The image reveals both nature’s ability to adapt and the visible impact of human activity on its habitat.”
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8points
#44 “Blade Barrier” By Alex Pansier
2nd Place in the Solutions Category
Location: Delft, the Netherlands
Description: “The long exposure traces the full movement of the wind turbines’ rotating blades, revealing huge, saw-like circles that show the space repeatedly swept by them. In front of the turbines, a vast flock of starlings moves above the line of trees. The image makes visible one of the potential conflicts between renewable energy and birdlife. While the transition to green energy is essential, these enormous structures become part of the same airspace used by birds.”
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7points
#45 “Claws” By Ágnes Berentés
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Air Category
Description: “The hairy feet and tiny claws of a bat cling to the rock wall of a mine, revealing unexpected details under ultraviolet light. Seen in a different light, reality itself appears transformed: the UV illumination reveals hairs and structures that would remain almost invisible under natural light.”
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7points
#46 “The Dwarf And The Giant” By Márton János Nagy
Honorable Mention in the Young Photographers Category
Description: “A tiny snail slowly climbs the massive trunk of a centuries-old oak. This contrast in scale was exactly what I wanted to capture: the minute animal against the towering, majestic tree. Observing and photographing the forest’s nocturnal wildlife is especially close to my heart, so I also wanted the image to preserve something of the atmosphere of the forest at night.”
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7points
#47 “Autumn Patterns” By László Tóth
Honorable Mention in the Carpathian Basin Category
Description: “Colorful fallen leaves cover the forest floor, while the trunks and lines of bare branches create lightning-like silhouettes among them. Seen from above, the familiar woodland landscape transforms into an almost abstract pattern. For me, it is an endlessly fascinating view that can only truly be discovered from the air.”
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6points
#48 “Cerro Dominador” By Matjaz Krivic
1st Place in the Solutions Category
Location: Atacama Desert, Chile
Description: “Aerial view of the Cerro Dominador solar power plant, its central tower surrounded by a vast field of mirrors reflecting sunlight towards it. The geometric pattern of the heliostats transforms the Atacama Desert into an extraordinary technological landscape. The 210 MW complex was the first project in South America to combine concentrated solar power (CSP) with photovoltaic technology, harnessing the intense solar radiation of one of the driest and sunniest regions on Earth.”
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6points
#49 “Contact” By Pietro Muzi Falconi
Honorable Mention in the Solutions Category
Description: “A beekeeper’s gloved hand moves across a frame covered with honeybees during a hive inspection. The bees remain in place as the beekeeper works with slow, deliberate movements, using smoke to keep the colony calm. The relationship between beekeeper and colony is one of the oldest and most important human–animal partnerships. Managed honeybees play a significant role in pollinating many crops and supporting food production. The glove is the only barrier between the two sides of that relationship.”
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6points
#50 “Cracking Open A New Life” By Pietro Luca Eberle
Honorable Mention in the Solutions Category
Location: Cambodia
Description: “A young Siamese crocodile breaks free from its egg in front of conservationist Mark Dainty at the Angkor Wildlife & Aquarium. The hatching is part of a long-term conservation programme working to return this Critically Endangered species to the wild. To maximize hatching success, the eggs are kept under carefully controlled conditions and closely monitored. As hatching begins, staff may assist the young crocodiles in emerging from their eggs — a role normally performed by the parent in the wild. Only a small population of adult Siamese crocodiles survives in the wild in Cambodia, making successful breeding and reintroduction programmes vital to the species’ future.”
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6points
#51 “Mayflynauts” By Imre Potyó
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Water
Location: Ipoly River, Hungary
Description: “Thousands of mayflies fill the air above the Ipoly River, while a few individuals appear to float above a distant planet. Through the extraordinary perspective of a fisheye lens, for a moment I felt as if I were travelling across a “Mayfly Planet”. For fourteen years, I have followed the swarming of the protected Danube mayfly on warm summer evenings along the Danube and the Ipoly. In August 2025, I witnessed the largest swarm I had ever seen on the Ipoly. Standing in the river, composing the image was extremely difficult as mayflies covered my face and almost my entire body. Then a few individuals separated from the swarm and appeared above the “planet” — and the image came together. It was an unforgettable and deeply moving experience.”
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6points
#52 “Perceptions On Climate” By Márton Kállai
2nd Place for Stories or Portfolio
Description: “Climate change is a much-discussed topic of our time, which affects all areas of life. Due to its importance, many people discuss the phenomenon with a variety of approaches, often interpreting it as a social construction, where values are also given space beyond the facts. I wanted to find out where the information that forms the basis of our knowledge comes from. I followed biologists, dendrologists, and ecologists whose work is closely related to learning about climate change. The findings they make strive for general validity and raise the responsibility of the interpreter in creating explanations. My series is a tribute to the sacrificial and complex intellectual work done to get to know the environment.”
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6points
#53 “Vis-À-Vis” By Marina Gavrikova
Honorable Mention in the Young Photographers Category
Location: Kaluga Region, Russia
Description: “Two European bison stand face to face in the darkness of the night. One is revealed by the artificial light, while the other approaches from the shadows. I waited a long time for this moment. When the two bison finally stopped opposite each other, it seemed as if a silent conversation was taking place between them in the darkness.”
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6points
#54 “Among The Tall Reeds” By Marina Gavrikova
1st Place in the Young Photographers Category
Location: Dagestan, Russia
Description: “A rock bunting flies through tall, dry reeds in the golden backlight of sunrise. In the background, the cold, deep blue tones of a snow-covered mountainside create a striking contrast with the warmly illuminated reeds and the bird’s feathers. Walking along the lake, I noticed a flock of rock buntings feeding among the reeds, constantly moving as they searched for seeds. Before the restless flock moved on, I managed to capture the brief moment when one bird flew through the glowing reeds.”
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5points
#55 “Guano Flower” By Imre Potyó
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Land Category
Description: “Whitish, hairy fungal colonies grow on bat guano, while lesser horseshoe bats hibernate above them in the darkness of an abandoned mine tunnel. The nearly two hundred bats occasionally interrupt their hibernation, and on the guano accumulating beneath them, unusual dung-loving molds begin to grow. The image was taken under controlled conditions during a bat survey, without disturbing the animals. Using focus stacking, I combined the hibernating bats and the remarkable, almost flower-like fungi growing beneath them into a single image.”
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5points
#56 “Mountain Peak” By Tímea Ambrus
2nd Place in the Carpathian Basin Category
Location: Miklapuszta, Hungary
Description: “At first glance, it resembles a snow-covered mountain peak, but the image actually shows the shoreline of a salt lake from above. It was captured on a scorching summer day, when temperatures exceeded 40°C. Hundreds of greylag geese gathered in the shallow water, their movements drawing delicate lines across the surface. I photographed the scene from an altitude of more than 260 meters using a 3× zoom, allowing the drone to remain at a safe distance without disturbing the birds.”
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5points
#57 “Soulmates Over Saltpan” By Rajarshi Banerji
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Water Category
Location: Brine Pans, Walvis Bay Lagoon Area, Namibia
Description: “Two flamingos fly together above the extraordinary colors and textures of the salt pans. The shifting patterns below are created by varying concentrations of salt and minerals, as well as the organisms that thrive in these highly saline waters. The ecosystem produces vast quantities of phytoplankton, algae and brine shrimp, providing food for the huge flocks of flamingos that gather here. Looking down from a doorless helicopter, I saw thousands of flamingos spread across this immense landscape. I chose to isolate just two individuals from the flock, creating a quiet sense of togetherness within the vastness of the scene.”
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5points
#58 “The Brightest Bird” By Alex Pansier
Best Collection in the Pure Nature - Air Category
Location: Shetland Islands, Scotland
Description: “Hundreds of northern gannets cover a dark cliff face in the Shetland Islands, their pale bodies forming a scattered pattern across the rock. Above the colony, a single bird flies through a narrow beam of light. Its glowing wings stand out sharply against the blue-black background, setting it apart for a brief moment from the hundreds of birds below.”
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5points
#59 “The Old Forest Table” By Julián Fernandez Quilez
Honorable Mention in the Our Footprints Category
Location: Spain
Description: “Two common genets search a table covered with food packaging and leftovers after the people have gone. The scene shows how waste left behind in nature can become a food source for wildlife and influence their natural behavior.”
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5points
#60 “UFO In The Space” By Ferenc Ifj. Lőrincz
Honorable Mention in the Pure Nature - Water Category
Description: “A golden jellyfish appears to speed like a UFO through the blue universe of the sea. Around it, the silvery flashes of a school of sardines form blurred trails like streaks of starlight, transforming the underwater scene into a cosmic journey. I took this photograph underwater in the Banda Sea, Indonesia, on 27 November 2023, using a Nikon D850 with an 8–15 mm fisheye lens.”
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5points
