The most beautiful nature photos of the world in 2026

Award-winning photographs from the 2026 Nature Photographer of the Year competition capture wild encounters, from an Arctic wolf's confrontation to molten lava fields in Iceland.

Preeti John (UAE) won second prize in the Animal category for her work "Shelter". The photograph captures a baby elephant sheltering beneath its mother's protective body under the scorching sun in Amboseli National Park, Kenya.

The German Society for Nature Photography (GDT) announced the results of its annual "GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2026" competition in early May. A jury evaluated nearly 9,000 submissions from 15 countries.

The special prize went to 20-year-old German photographer Luca Lorenz for his work "White on white", which captures an Alpine snow hare perfectly camouflaged, almost blending into a snow-covered rock crevice in the Swiss Alps.

German photographer Radomir Jakubowski secured first prize in the Bird category for "Black-headed gull". The image captures a gull with outstretched wings preparing to land in the Camargue wetlands, France.

Uwe Hasubek's "Rice fields in Madagascar" received second prize in the Landscape category. The photograph captures sunlight illuminating terraced fields, highlighting contrasting colors across the Madagascar highlands.

Belgian photographer Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove secured second prize in the Nature's Studio category for "Lava dragon". An aerial shot captures molten lava flowing in an active volcanic region of Iceland, incidentally forming the shape of a coiling fire dragon.

Eike Christian Wolff's "Eiswald" (Ice Forest) earned first prize in the Landscape category. It was photographed in Deutschland, Germany.

The photograph documents a winter phenomenon in Germany's flooded forests. River water overflows into the forest, freezing the surface in cold weather. As the water level beneath recedes, it creates voids, causing large ice sheets to lose their support, collapse, and shatter into giant "glass" fragments around tree trunks.

German photographer Roy Müller's "Shelter at the ice hole" earned the Special Jury Award. The photograph depicts wild birds seeking sustenance near an ice hole in winter.

German photographer Dieter Damschen won first prize in the Biodiversity category for "Rich in structure". The photograph captures a flock of cranes flying with outstretched wings in the morning mist at Lower Oder Valley National Park, a cross-border nature reserve shared by Germany and Poland.

Israeli photographer Amit Eshel received second prize in the Biodiversity category. The photograph captures a breathtaking moment in the Arctic, Canada, showing a blood-covered Arctic wolf after a hunt confronting a herd of musk oxen. The oxen are arrayed in their characteristic tight defensive formation to protect their territory.