These 49 photographs were entered in the 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year contest, and three of them went on to win prizes when the results were announced in December 2016. They span foxes in rain and snow, a puffin on a Welsh island, a walrus on a Russian beach, fog pouring over California hills and a sobering scene from the Arctic. Each one appears below with the photographer's name and a short note on what is happening in the frame and why it is worth a closer look.
The contest invited photographers from around the world to enter four categories: Landscape, Environmental Issues, Action and Animal Portraits. Sarah Polger, who managed National Geographic's photo contests, said the categories gave entrants "a chance to capture the complexity and beauty found in the world around us." Entries cost $15 per photo, with no limit on how many a photographer could submit, and the deadline was 4 November 2016.
The selection was put together before the judges had made their decisions, so the numbers are simply a browsing order, not a ranking. Where a photographer described the moment, we have retold it in our own words; where only a title survives, we have added context about the subject.
How the contest worked and who won
The grand prize was a 10-day trip for two to the Galápagos with National Geographic Expeditions, plus two 15-minute portfolio reviews with National Geographic photo editors. It went to Greg Lecoeur of Nice, France, for "Sardine Run", taken off the coast of South Africa during the annual sardine migration, when gannets and dolphins drive the fish into tight balls to feed.
Three pictures in this gallery were among the winners. Varun Aditya's green vine snake (#11) won the Animal Portraits category, Vadim Balakin's polar bear remains in Svalbard (#42) won Environmental Issues, and Michael O'Neill's peacock bass with her fry (#33) took second place in Animal Portraits. The Landscape category went to Jacob Kaptein for a picture of a small tree surviving in a river.
Entries 1–12: foxes, a puffin, a walrus and a vine snake
#1 Hummingbird
Photo: Emily Riley
Emily Riley found a young hummingbird that had flown into her house and seemed dazed, so she set it on her front porch to recover and photographed it while its sugar-water cooled. Hummingbirds burn energy at an extraordinary rate, which is why a stunned one needs quiet and time more than handling. If you ever find a bird in this state, a calm, sheltered spot and a call to a local wildlife rehabilitator is the safest help.
#2 Dancing In The Rain
Photo: Vladislav Kamenski
Vladislav Kamenski caught a fox mid-movement in falling rain, which is why the frame feels so lively. Red foxes are the most widespread wild carnivores on Earth, living everywhere from Arctic tundra to city parks. Rain rarely stops them hunting, and the water beading on a fox's coat shows how well its dense fur sheds weather.
#3 Bathing In The Snow Flake
Photo: Hiroki Inoue
Hiroki Inoue's fox is rolling in fresh snow, a behaviour foxes seem to enjoy and that may also help clean their fur. In winter, foxes grow a much thicker coat and wrap their bushy tails around their noses when resting to keep warm. Falling flakes add depth and a sense of quiet to the scene.
#4 Pacific Storm
Photo: Santiago Borja
Santiago Borja photographed this towering cumulonimbus lit from inside by lightning, seen from an aircraft circling around it at about 37,000 feet on a flight toward South America. Cumulonimbus clouds are the classic thunderstorm clouds, and their tops can climb higher than airliners fly. Pilots steer well clear of them because of the violent turbulence, hail and lightning inside.
#5 Moving At A Snail's Pace...
Photo: Samira Qadir
Samira Qadir spotted this snail exploring a bromeliad at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, one of the largest greenhouse conservatories in the United States. Bromeliads belong to the same plant family as the pineapple, and many hold small pools of water in their leaf rosettes that become miniature habitats. Her point was simple: slowing down reveals tiny worlds we usually walk past.
#6 Icescape
Photo: Kelly King
Kelly King's "Icescape" turns frozen water into a landscape of its own. Ice forms these shapes through cycles of freezing, thawing and wind, and trapped air bubbles decide whether it looks clear, white or blue. Pictures like this reward a slow look at texture rather than a quick glance.
#7 Puffin Studio
Photo: Mario Suarez Porras
Mario Suárez Porras made this intimate study of an Atlantic puffin resting in the rain on Skomer Island, off the coast of Wales. Skomer is a national nature reserve whose puffin colony has grown in recent years, with counts above 40,000 birds, and the birds are used to people on the paths. Puffins come ashore to nest in burrows from mid-April and head back out to sea by late July.
#8 Under The Waves
Photo: Christopher Markisz
Christopher Markisz looked down from the top of Mount Tamalpais as waves of fog rolled over a neighbourhood in Mill Valley, California. The Bay Area's famous summer fog forms when moist ocean air cools over cold coastal water and then flows inland through gaps in the hills. From the 784-metre summit, the fog can look like a slow-moving sea.
#9 Mystic Woods
Photo: Andrew George
Andrew George's "Mystic Woods" leans on atmosphere: soft light, haze and the depth of a forest that seems to go on forever. Mist in woodland usually forms on still, cool mornings when moisture near the ground condenses. Photographers often rise before dawn for exactly these few calm minutes.
#10 Ocean Guest
Photo: Mike Korostelev
Mike Korostelev was walking along a beach at Cape Vankarem in Chukotka, in Russia's far north-east, where walruses gather every autumn, when he came across a lone walrus asleep with its tusks dug into the sand. He crept up with a wide-angle lens, and at some point the animal woke and noticed him. Pacific walruses increasingly haul out on land as sea ice shrinks, and wildlife officials stress keeping distance, because a frightened herd can stampede.
#11 Dragging You Deep Into The Woods !
Photo: varun aditya
Varun Aditya photographed this 20-centimetre green vine snake in a rain-soaked, foggy forest, switching from his macro lens to a wide-angle so the habitat could share the frame. The picture went on to win the Animal Portraits category of the 2016 contest. Green vine snakes are slender, mildly venomous and rear-fanged, with distinctive horizontal pupils that may help them judge distance when striking.
#12 Crocodile Waterline
Photo: Brett Lobwein
Brett Lobwein photographed an American crocodile at the surface in the Gardens of the Queen (Jardines de la Reina), an archipelago off southern Cuba that is protected as a marine park. American crocodiles tolerate salt water better than most crocodilians, which lets them live among mangroves and reefs. A split view at the waterline shows how much of the animal stays hidden below.
Entries 13–24: owls, eagles, horses and Rapa das Bestas
#13 Alien Lights
Photo: Russell Wiltshire
Russell Wiltshire's "Alien Lights" plays on how strange natural light can look to human eyes. Auroras, glowing plankton and long exposures of moving lights can all produce colours the eye barely registers in real time. Giving a picture a playful title is one way photographers invite viewers to look twice.
#14 Great Horned Owl Returning
Photo: Robert Strickland
Robert Strickland photographed a great horned owl returning to her nest in a built-up area of Citrus County, Florida, near a busy sheriff's office and a highway leading to a high school. Great horned owls are remarkably adaptable and often take over nests built by other large birds rather than building their own. They also nest early, sometimes in the depths of winter.
#15 Engagement Present
Photo: Andrés Miguel Domínguez
Andrés Miguel Domínguez captured a male common kingfisher carrying a fish as an offering to a female. This courtship feeding is a real part of kingfisher pair bonding: by bringing food, the male shows he can provide while she prepares to lay eggs. The bright blue and orange plumage comes partly from the way feather structure scatters light.
#16 Aerial Autumn
Photo: Manish Mamtani
Manish Mamtani photographed autumn colour in New Hampshire from the air, turning a forest into a patchwork of reds, oranges and greens. Leaves change colour as trees stop producing green chlorophyll, revealing yellow and orange pigments that were there all along, while reds come from pigments made in autumn. New England's mix of maples, birches and evergreens is what makes the patchwork so varied.
#17 A Portrait Of "Trapper"
Photo: Graham McGeorge
Graham McGeorge's portrait shows Trapper, a great horned owl who had been treated for squamous cell carcinoma of the eyelids. According to his caption, she helps researchers by acting as a decoy that attracts swallow-tailed kites, which can then be caught and fitted with tracking devices to study their migration, and she also fosters orphaned owlets at the Avian Reconditioning Center in Florida. Birds of prey often mob owls, which is why a calm, captive owl makes such an effective lure.
#18 Wild Horses
Photo: Javier Arcenillas
Javier Arcenillas photographed the Rapa das Bestas in Galicia, north-west Spain, where semi-wild horses are brought down from the hills into enclosures called curros. Their manes are cut, foals are marked and the herd is groomed before being released back to the mountains. The best-known event is held in Sabucedo, in A Estrada, in early July, and the tradition is said to date back to the 15th century.
#19 Sandstorm
Photo: Eugene Kitsios
Eugene Kitsios was photographing a young grey seal when both of them were caught in a blowing sandstorm. Grey seals haul out on beaches to rest, moult and give birth, and pups are born with a white coat they shed within weeks. Blowing sand turns an ordinary seal portrait into something wild and textured.
#20 Hair Lines Of Zebra
Photo: Yu huiping
Yu Huiping filled the frame with a zebra's stripes, letting the pattern become the subject. Every zebra's stripes are unique, a bit like a fingerprint. Researchers have tested many theories for why stripes evolved, and field experiments suggest they help deter biting flies.
#21 Phantom Spring
Photo: Comyu Matsuoka
Comyu Matsuoka's "Phantom Spring" suggests the soft, almost unreal mood of spring light. Photographers often create this ghostly feel with backlighting, shallow focus or mist. The title leaves the rest to the viewer's imagination.
#22 Confrontation
Photo: Karen Prisby
Karen Prisby watched a white-tailed eagle swoop on a red fox that had stolen a fish on frozen Lake Fūren in Hokkaido, Japan. The fox got away with its prize. Lake Fūren draws white-tailed and Steller's sea eagles in winter, and squabbles over food between eagles and foxes are part of the daily drama on the ice.
#23 Aladdin's Cave
Photo: Denis Budkov
Denis Budkov's "Aladdin's Cave" borrows its name from the treasure-filled cave of the folk tale. Caves carved in ice or rock can glow with surprising colour when light filters through from outside. Places like these change quickly, and ice caves in particular can be dangerous to enter without an experienced guide.
#24 Great Egret Against The Setting Sun
Photo: Arun P
Arun P framed a great egret against the setting sun. In the late 19th century, great egrets were hunted almost to disappearance in North America for the long plumes used on fashionable hats, and the outcry helped launch the early bird-protection movement. Today the great egret is the symbol of the National Audubon Society.
Entries 25–37: skies, seasons and a guarded brood
#25 Stare Into My Eyes
Photo: Octoyura Bamahry
Octoyura Bamahry's "Stare Into My Eyes" appears to be a close portrait built around an animal's gaze, which is why we also chose it to open this gallery. Eye contact gives wildlife portraits their emotional pull, and photographers often get low and focus precisely on the nearest eye. Patience usually matters more than equipment for shots like this.
#26 Fire Dancer
Photo: Brina Bunt
Brina Bunt titled this image "Fire Dancer", a name that hints at glowing colour and movement. Many nature photographers chase moments when light, fire or warm sunset tones make a subject seem to come alive. The title is the only description the photographer gave.
#27 The Frozen Pond With Snow
Photo: Kent Shiraishi
Kent Shiraishi's "The Frozen Pond With Snow" finds pattern and calm in a winter scene. Snow settling on ice can reveal cracks, bubbles and the shapes of the shoreline beneath. Ice on ponds is rarely uniform, so even beautiful frozen water is best admired from the bank.
#28 Under The Milky Way
Photo: Ignacio Carrera
Ignacio Carrera photographed a landscape beneath the arc of the Milky Way. Our galaxy's bright core is best seen from dark sites away from city lights, and in the Northern Hemisphere it is most visible in spring and summer. Shots like this typically use a wide lens, a tripod and exposures of several seconds.
#29 Crocodile Tears
Photo: Harry Lyndon-Skeggs
Harry Lyndon-Skeggs's "Crocodile Tears" plays on the old idea that crocodiles weep false tears while eating their prey. Crocodilians do produce tears that keep their eyes moist, and a small study of captive caimans and alligators reported that some animals teared up while feeding. The expression, though, has always been about human insincerity, not reptile feelings.
#30 Ufo Formation
Photo: Takashi
Takashi's "UFO Formation" points to one of the sky's favourite tricks. Smooth, saucer-shaped clouds, often lenticular clouds that form as air flows over mountains, are a common explanation for reported "UFO" sightings. They can hover in place for long periods even in strong winds.
#31 From The Shadows
Photo: Harry Lyndon-Skeggs
Harry Lyndon-Skeggs's second image in this set, "From The Shadows", uses darkness as part of the composition. Low-key lighting hides most of a scene so that the eye goes straight to whatever catches the light. Wildlife photographers often work this way at dawn and dusk, when many animals are most active.
#32 Larger Than Life
Photo: Alex Wiles
Alex Wiles's "Larger Than Life" plays with scale. Wide-angle lenses used close to a subject make it loom over the frame, while a long lens from far away can flatten distance. Either way, the title invites us to think about how framing shapes our sense of size.
#33 Proud Momma
Photo: Michael O'Neil
Michael O'Neill photographed a peacock bass guarding a cloud of fry in a freshwater lake in Miami, and the picture later took second place in the Animal Portraits category. Peacock bass are South American cichlids that were introduced to South Florida's waters, and like many cichlids, the parents guard their young closely. The image is a rare look at parental care in fish.
#34 Covered With Mist
Photo: pradeep raja
Pradeep Raja's "Covered With Mist" captures a scene softened by low cloud or fog. Mist forms when moist air cools to its dew point, often at dawn in valleys and over water. It hides detail, simplifies shapes and gives landscapes a sense of depth.
#35 Diving
Photo: felipe foncueva
Felipe Foncueva's "Diving" freezes a moment of plunge, whether of a bird hitting the water or an animal going under. Diving predators such as gannets, kingfishers and terns hit the water at speed and fold their wings at the last instant. Capturing that split second takes fast shutter speeds and a great deal of patience.
#36 Tequilla Sunset
Photo: Zhayynn James
Zhayynn James's "Tequilla Sunset" (spelled that way in the entry) borrows the name of the layered orange-and-red cocktail. Sunset colours deepen when sunlight passes through more atmosphere, scattering away the blue and leaving warm reds and oranges. Dust, smoke or humidity can make the effect more intense.
#37 Long Shadows
Photo: Jassen T.
Jassen T.'s "Long Shadows" uses low sunlight, when shadows stretch far across the ground. In the hour after sunrise and before sunset, photographers' "golden hour", shadows add shape and texture that midday light flattens. Shadows can become as important as the subject that casts them.
Entries 38–49: hibernating bats, lions and an Arctic warning
#38 Huge Scale Of Bats Hibernation
Photo: Kei Nomiyama
Kei Nomiyama documented a large group of bats in hibernation, packed together to conserve heat and energy. Hibernating bats lower their body temperature and heart rate dramatically, and every disturbance forces them to burn precious fat reserves. In North America, white-nose syndrome has killed millions of hibernating bats, which is why many caves are closed to visitors in winter.
#39 The Zebra And The Oxpecker
Photo: YARON SCHMID
Yaron Schmid photographed a zebra with an oxpecker, the small bird that rides on large African mammals. Oxpeckers eat ticks and other parasites, but they also peck at wounds and drink blood, so scientists still debate how helpful they are to their hosts. Their partnership is a classic example of a relationship that is more complicated than it first appears.
#40 The Glacier Pattern
Photo: Takashi Tsuneizumi
Takashi Tsuneizumi's "The Glacier Pattern" finds design in moving ice. Glaciers carry rock and grit that form dark stripes called moraines, and stresses in the ice open crevasses in repeating lines. Viewed from above, these features can look almost like brushstrokes.
#41 Never Bother Dad When He's Sleeping
Photo: p. Kuhn
P. Kuhn was on a trip in Botswana when the group found two lionesses and six cubs resting under a bush, and a male lion came to visit. The females were wary at first, since male lions are known to kill cubs that are not their own, but this male lay down and closed his eyes while one cub tried hard to wake him. The scene captures both the tension and the tenderness of pride life.
#42 Life And Death
Photo: Vadim Balakin
Vadim Balakin found these polar bear remains on an island in northern Svalbard, Norway, in August 2014, and the picture won the Environmental Issues category. He could not know whether the bear died of starvation or old age, though he suspected starvation because its teeth looked healthy. A single carcass cannot prove a cause, but loss of sea ice, which polar bears need for hunting seals, is a recognised long-term threat to the species.
#43 Harvest
Photo: Laura Barnett
Laura Barnett's "Harvest" points to a moment of gathering, whether people bringing in crops or animals storing food for the lean season. Many species, from squirrels to some birds, cache food in autumn to survive winter. The title is all the photographer gave, leaving the image to speak for itself.
#44 Time At The Water Hole
Photo: Richard Costin
Richard Costin's "Time At The Water Hole" shows one of the most important places in dry country. In the dry season, water holes draw animals of many species together, creating tense encounters between predators and prey. Wildlife photographers often wait for hours at the same spot for the right moment.
#45 Wet! Wet! Wet!
Photo: Gillian Lloyd
Gillian Lloyd's "Wet! Wet! Wet!" is a playful title for a soaked subject. Water droplets, spray and rain can add sparkle and energy to an image, especially when backlit. Many animals shake off water with remarkable speed, and photographers try to catch the spray in mid-air.
#46 Colorado River Trees
Photo: Stas Bartnikas
Stas Bartnikas photographed trees along the Colorado River, which runs about 2,330 kilometres from the Rocky Mountains toward the Gulf of California. Its banks support ribbons of green through otherwise dry country, and those riverside trees are vital habitat for birds and other wildlife. Heavy damming and water use mean the river now rarely reaches the sea.
#47 Empire Rising
Photo: Sam Morris
Sam Morris's "Empire Rising" uses a grand title to suggest something emerging into view, perhaps through mist or morning light. Images of things rising out of fog work because the eye fills in what the haze hides. The photographer left the description to the title alone.
#48 Land Of Everlasting Salt
Photo: A TOM
A Tom's "Land Of Everlasting Salt" shows a salt landscape, the kind left behind when shallow lakes evaporate in hot, dry regions. Salt flats can be so level that a thin film of rain turns them into giant mirrors. The best known, Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni, is the largest salt flat in the world.
#49 Our Beloved Possessions
Photo: Jassen T
Jassen T.'s second entry, "Our Beloved Possessions", carries a title that invites reflection on what we value and what we leave behind in the natural world. With no caption from the photographer, the picture is left to speak for itself. It closes the gallery on a thoughtful note.
What makes a great nature photograph
Looking across these entries, a few things stand out. The strongest pictures usually tell a small story: a fox stealing a fish, a lion trying to sleep through his cubs' games, a bird bringing a gift. Light does much of the work, whether it is rain-soaked grey on Skomer, fog over Mill Valley or the low sun behind an egret. And many of the best moments came from patience and respect, waiting quietly rather than pushing closer.
That last point matters for anyone inspired to try. Keeping a safe distance, staying on paths, never baiting or cornering animals and leaving nests and roosts undisturbed protects both wildlife and photographer. The polar bear in Svalbard is a reminder that nature photography can also record change, and that a single honest image can start a wider conversation.
Which of these would you have given the grand prize to? Tell us in the comments.
Sources: photographs by the credited photographers, entered via National Geographic Your Shot; Shutterbug: National Geographic announces winners of the 2016 Nature Photographer of the Year contest; My Modern Met: 2016 contest entries and rules; Wikipedia: Skomer; Wikipedia: Rapa das Bestas; contest page at National Geographic; gallery first compiled by Bored Panda.
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