Photography

lemurs jumping

The Big Picture 2025

From the beautiful to the bizarre, this annual photographic showcase shines a light on some of our planet’s most breathtaking species and places.

Latest in Photography
BigPicture Landscapes Finalist by Georgina Steytler
The Big Picture 2024

From the beautiful to the bizarre and breathtaking, this photographic showcase of life on Earth shines a light on some of our planet's most amazing species and places.

The Big Picture 2023

From the beautiful to the bizarre and breathtaking, this photographic showcase of life on Earth shines a light on some of our planet's most amazing species and places.

The Big Picture 2022
The Big Picture 2022

From the beautiful to the bizarre, this photographic showcase of life on Earth shines a light on some of our planet's most amazing species and places.

Starling-Studded Skies

A modern approach to a 19th-century photography technique celebrates both the art and science behind one of the planet’s most mesmerizing spectacles.

The Big Picture 2021

From the beautiful to the bizarre, this photographic showcase of life on Earth shines a light on some of our planet's most amazing species and places.

Susanna Tuffy, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator from Duxbury, Massachusetts, feeds a baby squirrel from inside her bathroom window. Tuffy cares for about 60 animals a year in her home.
The Other COVID Nurses

Caring for sick and injured wildlife has always been challenging, but during the pandemic, for many rehabilitators, it has become a grueling, 24/7 labor of love.

Lens on Life

While 2020 has thrown an endless string of challenges at many of us, nature hasn't gone anywhere. It's just as impressive and inspiring—and in many cases, just as imperiled as ever.

Common toads mating in the Lez River, France
The Big Picture 2020

From the beautiful to the bizarre, this photographic showcase of life on Earth shines a light on some of our planet's most amazing species and places.

<strong>Taking Center Stage by Audun Rikardsen</strong><em>—Grand Prize Winner</em>
<p>While the beauty of Norway’s spectacular northern coastline might be lost on this male black grouse (Tetrao tetrix), the prime vantage point offered by its perch is certainly not. For a ground-dwelling bird known for exuberant territorial displays during the breeding season, what better place to see and be seen than this branch, which provides an eagle’s-eye perspective of the terrain below. What initially drew photographer Audun Rikardsen to this spot high above the sea was, in fact, a resident golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) that frequented the perch. Having constructed a blind nearby, Rikardsen spent many frigid winter days photographing the eagle. But by spring, it had been replaced by a new subject: a black grouse in proud display. Not only did the grouse quickly become accustomed to Rikardsen’s rapidly firing camera shutter and flash, he says, it was almost as if the bird enjoyed being in the spotlight.</p>
The Big Picture 2019

From the beautiful to the bizarre, this photographic showcase of life on Earth shines a light on some of our planet's most amazing species and places.