8 “Outdoor Adventure” photo winners from Nature’s Best Photo Contest 2025

Each year, the Nature’s Best Photography Awards showcase some of the most beautiful and rarely seen aspects of wildlife. But in Outdoor adventure category, we can’t just admire landscapes. we also understand the courage it takes to truly enter them.

From frozen peaks to tropical seas, here are eight award-winning photos that will make you itch to pack a bag, lace up your boots and head out into the wild.

1. Skiing The North (Rogers Pass, British Columbia) — Category winner

In this image, we see a lone skier vaulting over a vast, untouched slope under the winter sun, high in Canada’s Selkirk Mountains. As shown in Skiing in the NorthRogers Pass is located within Glacier National Park: a nearly 521-square-mile (1,350 km²) alpine corridor famous for its deep powder, avalanche chutes, and stunning isolation.

Glacier National Park, as a whole, is the perfect pilgrimage site for skiers and climbers. It requires both technical skill and humility in the face of the power of nature.

2. Reflected Serenity (Honeymoon Island State Park, Florida)

In this image, we see the beach in the wake of a summer storm: clear, with a sunset vivid enough to transform the sand into a golden mirror. “I caught my husband’s reflection in a shallow pool of light—a brief moment of calm that became Peace is reflected», he explained the photographer behind the shot, Tiffany Glöckner.

Honeymoon Island State Park is a protected area spanning 385 acres (156 ha) of the Gulf of Mexico. At sunset, it reflects the sky in pink and gold. As we can see from this image, an outdoor adventure can be as simple as standing still, but only if you do it long enough to watch the world breathe.

3. Night With The Ancients (Baobab Alley, Madagascar)

Beneath a series of southern stars, here we see the towering silhouettes of Madagascar’s legendary baobab trees (Adansonia grandidieri). These trees are so old that many of them predate recorded history. Their massive trunks—some of which are over 100 feet tall and 30 feet wide—glow beautifully in the night sky. Madagascar, in particular, is home to more than six of the eight baobab species.

4. Cowboy Riding In The Snow (Shell, Wyoming)

Shot at sunrise in the Great Basin of Wyoming, Cowboy riding in the snow is photographer David Swindler’s (who also shot the category winner) tribute to the rugged spirit of the West. Silhouetted against a golden horizon, we see a horse and rider cresting a hill through windswept drifts.

The Bighorn Basin covers more than 10,000 square miles. It’s a landscape of wild openness, where adventure requires equal parts grit and grace. The scene we see here is timeless. For hikers and photographers, it’s scenes like these that prove the Bighorn Basin is bucket list country.

5. Whitewater Boating (Mt. Robson Provincial Park, Canada)

In Whitewater boatingwe see Canada’s Fraser River at its absolute wildest. This is the longest river in British Columbia, at over 850 miles, where the turquoise water turns white and aerates as it churns over ancient rocks. Here, in the shadow of Mount Robson – which rises to 12,972 feet, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies – we see a group of brave beams captured from above in perfect timing.

6. Spy Hopping Humpback Whale (Monterey Bay, California)

In Spy Hopping Humpback Whalephotographer Torie Hilley captured a poignant moment of cross-species connection. A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) rises vertically from the surface of the ocean, trying to catch a glimpse of people boarding a boat. This quirk, known as “spy jumping”, is a common behavior of cetaceans at the surface.

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a vast 6,094 square mile sanctuary teeming with marine life. The proximity of the whale to the whale watching boat shows how fragile the boundary between us and the wild is.

7. Underwater Artist (Ari Atoll, Maldives)

Deep beneath the Indian Ocean, we see a moment of creative determination. In Underwater artista scuba diver kneels at the bottom of Ari Atoll, brush in hand, painting away on a canvas resting on the coral-strewn floor.

Ari Atoll, divided into North Ari (Alifu Alifu) and South Ari (Alifu Dhaalu) is nothing short of a natural wonder in the Maldives archipelago. Its warm, nutrient-rich waters support an amazing array of marine life, from whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) and reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) in elusive hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini). Painting underwater is no small feat either. The diver has to deal with buoyancy, water resistance and extremely limited visibility.

8. Snorkeling with penguins (Booth Island, Antarctica)

Beneath the icy waters of Antarctica, a group of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) shoot like living arrows through the blue light of the ocean. Each bird passes through the current, leaving a trail of silver bubbles in their wake. Above them, sunlight filters into shimmering bands.

For von Ritter Zahony, this image is the realization of a lifelong fascination with the world beneath the surface. “Even as a child,” he revokes“I discovered my passion for the world ‘below the surface’. That curiosity evolved into a lifelong pursuit of underwater photography, “Man only protects what he sees and knows,” he says. Through his lens, we are reminded of our shared duty to protect the natural world.

Thinking of adding adventures like these to your bucket list? Take this science-backed test to find out if you’re one with nature: Nature Connectedness Scale