Zsolt Kudich
Kudich’s passion is creating images that capture nature’s fragile balance in an artistically powerful way. His work has garnered attention and accolades in many magazines, books, and photography contests. His latest project took him to eight countries to explore a string of reserves along the Danube River—the last untouched floodplains in the river basin.
Aquatic Life Finalist
A Bluebottle Sails at Sunrise
Matthew Smith | Stanwell Park, Australia
Aquatic Life Finalist
Trying to Blend In
Marc Casanovas | Vilassar de Mar, Spain
Aquatic Life Finalist
A Beautiful Friendship
Marcello Di Francesco | La Spezia, Italy
Aquatic Life Finalist
Too Close to Bear
Paul Souders | Seattle, Washington
Aquatic Life Finalist
Guarding the Family Jewels
Steven Kovacs | Loxahatchee, Florida
Aquatic Life Finalist
Free-Diving with the Sea Cow
Vaclav Krpelik | Prague, Czech Republic
Aquatic Life
Peek-A-Boo
Beth Watson
A photographer and Missouri landlubber‚ Watson found her true passion when she began scuba diving and took a camera under water. Her calling is to convey the importance of preserving our splendid and fragile ocean ecosystems.
Art of Nature Finalist
Whirlybird
Bence Mate | Pusztaszer, Hungary
ART OF NATURE FINALIST
Evening Star
Cyril Verron | Thenon, France
ART OF NATURE FINALIST
Serpentine Nature
Mac Stone | Greenville, South Carolina
ART OF NATURE FINALIST
Capillaries
Pål Hermansen | Ski, Norway
ART OF NATURE FINALIST
Starling Storm in Winter
Oliver Smart | Weston-Super-Mare, United Kingdom
ART OF NATURE FINALIST
Fair Trade
Terry Turrentine | San Francisco, California
Art of Nature
Water Pearls
Yingting Shih
Shih teaches photography as an assistant professor of visual communication design at China University of Technology in Taiwan. He hopes his images encourage viewers to pause and savor the artistry of nature that’s around us everywhere.
Landscapes, Waterscapes, and flora Finalist
Cloud Island
Shane Kalyn | Vancouver, Canada
LANDSCAPES, WATERSCAPES, AND FLORA FINALIST
Winter Wonderland
Jaak Sarv | Tartu, Estonia
LANDSCAPES, WATERSCAPES, AND FLORA FINALIST
Evening Fall in Atacama
Samuel Feron | Noisy-le-Sec, France
LANDSCAPES, WATERSCAPES, AND FLORA FINALIST
Wave Sculpture
Giovanni Allievi | Pietra Ligure, Italy
LANDSCAPES, WATERSCAPES, AND FLORA FINALIST
Pillars Beneath the Earth
Ryan Deboodt | Beijing, China
LANDSCAPES, WATERSCAPES, AND FLORA FINALIST
Heaven and Earth
Manish Mamtani | Peabody, Massachusetts
Landscapes, Waterscapes, and Flora
Survivor in a Sea of Sand
Mark Seabury
Seabury got into photography in his twenties during his international travels as a surfer. In recent years, he has spent many days at sea, aiming his lens at whales from above and below the water.
Terrestrial Wildlife Finalist
Shiny Delicate
Alejandro Arteaga | Quito, Ecuador
TERRESTRIAL WILDLIFE FINALIST
Young and Green
Jaime Culebras | Cáceres, Spain
TERRESTRIAL WILDLIFE FINALIST
Islands of Tranquility
Jasper Doest | Vlaardingen, Netherlands
TERRESTRIAL WILDLIFE FINALIST
Hoofbeats at Dead Vlei
Marius Kleisch | Neumarkt, Germany
TERRESTRIAL WILDLIFE FINALIST
Amazonian Stealth
Steve Winter | Hoboken, New Jersey
TERRESTRIAL WILDLIFE FINALIST
Shelter
Jules Cox | Brighton, England
Terrestrial Wildlife
Monkey in the Snow
Jasper Doest
Self-taught photographer Doest wants to give a voice to the wild creatures who share our planet. His work has won acclaim in the UK-based Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
Winged Life Finalist
Circle of Life
Kevin Zaouali | Puerto Madryn, Argentina
WINGED LIFE FINALIST
Pinnacle Perch
Francisco Mingorance | Almuñécar, Spain
WINGED LIFE FINALIST
Dive King
Petar Sabol | Palovec, Croatia
WINGED LIFE FINALIST
Joy to the World
Lalith Ekanayake | Colombo, Sri Lanka
WINGED LIFE FINALIST
Not a Blink
Mac Stone | Greenville, South Carolina
WINGED LIFE FINALIST
Yoga Owl
Mohammad Khorshed | Kuwait City, Kuwait
Winged Life
Shake It Off
Michael Pachis
Pachis’s passion for photographing wildlife is his creative outlet from a 40-year career as a computer technologist. Through his images, he hopes to evoke empathy for animals as fellow inhabitants of our world.
Human/Nature Finalist
Caught in a Web
Angela Robertson-Buchanan | Sydney, Australia
HUMAN/NATURE FINALIST
Cougar in Tinseltown
Steve Winter | Hoboken, New Jersey
HUMAN/NATURE FINALIST
Taking Care of the Blues
Douglas Gimesy | Brighton, Australia
HUMAN/NATURE FINALIST
A River in Pineapple Land
Giancarlo Pucci | San José, Costa Rica
HUMAN/NATURE FINALIST
Swept Up
Francisco Mingorance | Almuñécar, Spain
HUMAN/NATURE FINALIST
Saving the Biggest Fish
David Valencia | Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Human/Nature
Defenders of Innocence
Hilary O’Leary
O’Leary, a native of Zimbabwe, rides bikes, adores horses, and revels in the great outdoors. For her, the African bush is the best place to arrive and the hardest to leave. “My camera goes everywhere with me.”
Youth Finalist
Milky Way Over Desert Tree
Chris Powell | Federal Way, Washington
YOUTH FINALIST
Here’s Lookin’ at You, Kid!
Jenaya Launstein | Pincher Creek, Canada
YOUTH FINALIST
Duel of the Bee-Eaters
Juan van den Heever | Pretoria, South Africa
YOUTH FINALIST
Spotted Beauty
Madison Whiteside | Houston, Texas
Youth
Adapting to Winds of Change
Jenaya Launstein
At age 10, Launstein wanted to be a wildlife photographer. In the seven years since then, she has collected numerous awards for her images, including Youth Photographer of the Year in the 2013 Nature’s Best Photography competition.
