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The Natural Landscape Photography Awards competition was created to promote ‘the best landscape and nature photography by digital and film photographers who value realism in their work’.
Judging by the standard of this year’s winning and commended entries, it’s job done.
Over 11,000 photographs were submitted to the 2023 competition from 1,023 photographers living in 54 countries, with their work judged in categories including ‘Grand Scenic’, ‘Mountains’ and ‘Water Worlds’.
It couldn’t have been an easy decision picking Canadian photographer Blake Randall as the overall winner.
A statement from the competition said: ‘The results are a fantastic showcase of not only the photographers involved but also the true wonder of the landscape in a way that people can trust.’
Scroll down for our pick of the gong-scooping entries…
Grant Dixon claimed the silver medal in the Mountains category with this amazing photograph of 4,950ft- (1,509m) tall Mt Geryon in Tasmania
German photographer Bjorn Nehrhoff was garlanded with the top prize in the Grand Scenic category with this mesmerising image, taken in northern Norway. Bjorn said: ‘During an unusually warm period, a storm front hit the coast of Steigen, with its towering mountains. Hiding the van from the raging winds I found shelter close to a tidal island. When it suddenly started snowing with extremely large snow flakes I was sure that this would be perfect for a longer-exposure shot with snow streaks, and so I walked to the rocky edge of the tidal island to take the shot’
Tiago Mateus, from Almada in Portugal, was the overall winner in the Project of the Year category. His entry comprised a series of monochromatic photos dedicated to the Portuguese coastal stone pine. Tiago said: ‘These trees, known for their resistance to summer drought, grow easily in weak sandy soils, heroically resist strong coastal winds and the salty air. Throughout their life, which usually can reach 150 years, they suffer countless fractures caused by storms or by the weight of their crown, which gives them striking strong personalities and, in most cases, incredible shapes that tell us the story of their lives and their fight against the elements’
Fifth place in the Grand Scenic category went to Stewart Hamilton for this stirring image, taken at Bombo Quarry in New South Wales
Third place in the Mountains category went to Giacomo Finotti for this epic snap, taken in Patagonia
This stunning image by Barbara Seiberl-Stark was declared the runner-up in the Water Worlds category
The judges were wowed by this photo, which they declared as the runner-up in the Grand Scenic category. It was taken by Xavier Lequarre in the Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia
This beautiful landscape picture, taken on the shoreline of Loch Tulla in Scotland, earned Adam Gibbs third place in the Photographer of the Year ranking
This stunning shot by Australian photographer Peter Eastway scooped the top prize in the Aerial category. It shows Lake Frome in South Australia, which Peter noted ‘is considered to have some of the whitest sand in the world’. He added: ‘Its ultra-flat surface is punctuated by raised islands of yellow sand, blown across from the surrounding deserts and shaped by winds and rare floods. From above, it is an organic mosaic of natural patterns. This photograph was taken just after sunrise, looking directly into the light and allowing lens flare to add a splash of extra colour to the composition’
The runner-up prize for Photographer of the Year went to Australian photographer Benjamin Maze. This is one of his spellbinding entries
Another entry from Benjamin Maze, who said: ‘I’m thrilled to be included in the results for this year’s Natural Landscape Photography Awards. I always find it fascinating to see what resonates with the judges and how that may differ to my own personal connections to certain entries. Thank you to the NLPA organisers and judges for creating such a wonderful competition, and for their vote of confidence in advocating honest depictions of our beautiful natural world’
Behold. This is an image that helped Blake Randall, from Vancouver, scoop the title of Photographer of the Year. Blake’s entries were taken in his ‘beloved home province’ of British Columbia. He said on Instagram: ‘I am super happy (and very surprised!) to announce that I won the Natural Landscape Photography photographer of the year award. Since its inception, the NLPA awards have set the gold standard for landscape photography. Preserving the authentic experience of capturing our planet’s unaltered natural beauty in contrast to the growing popularity of AI and computer generated imagery. The contest’s rules allow for very minimal photoshop and they verify all the files as well as award novel and creative compositions’
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From an epic mountain in Tasmania to a beautiful Scottish loch: The stunning winners of the Natural Landscape Photography Awards (which bans the use of AI and ‘deceptive editing’)
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