The Most Touching Nature Photos of the Year - 2026 Nature Photography Winners Reveal Earth's Stunning and Fragile Beauty
The winners of the 2026 Highlights of Nature Photography competition have been announced. Over 1,000 photographers from 44 countries entered the contest, with nearly 25,000 images reviewed by the jury. The top prize went to Rahul Sachdev for his striking shot of a giraffe encountering a dust devil in Kenya's Amboseli National Park.
Sachdev's winning image captured a rare moment as a giraffe stood amid swirling dust in the Kenyan savanna. The photograph stood out among thousands of entries, earning him the All Over Winner title.
Other standout images included Fritz Rumpf's geometric patterns in the sand dunes of Death Valley National Park, California. In Spain, Alfonso Lalastra framed delicate ferns thriving in the shaded forests of La Cavada.
Wildlife shots also impressed the judges. Lukas Schäfer photographed a rock ptarmigan blending into the rugged terrain of South Tyrol, Italy. Meanwhile, Jan Piecha's close-up of a venomous Philippine temple viper on Sulawesi, Indonesia, revealed the snake's vivid colours and intricate scales.
Landscape photographers delivered equally stunning work. Martin Rak's misty morning scene along the Jizera River in the Czech Republic's Jizera Mountains created a serene, almost dreamlike atmosphere. Above Scotland's Cairngorms National Park, Christopher Harrison used a drone to capture a birch tree coated in frost, its branches glistening in the cold light. Far north, Sergey Gorshkov documented walruses resting on an iceberg between Svalbard and Franz Josef Land, highlighting the fragility of Arctic habitats.
The competition showcased the diversity of nature through the lenses of talented photographers. From deserts and forests to icy wildernesses, the winning images offer a glimpse of Earth's beauty and fragility. The selected works will now be displayed in exhibitions and publications worldwide.
