Some photography competitions celebrate composition, timing, and technical control. The Chromatic Awards, however, place one especially powerful element at the center of it all: color. Dedicated entirely to color photography, the international contest invites both professional and amateur photographers from around the world to submit work across 20 categories, giving established artists and emerging talents a chance to share their vision with a wider audience.
For this post, we are focusing on the winners and honorable mentions from the Nature category of the 2025 Chromatic Awards. The selection brings together an impressive range of images, from delicate close-ups of insects and flowers to dramatic landscapes, powerful wildlife portraits, glowing skies, icy scenes, and even views that stretch far beyond our planet. The category also includes the 2025 Grand Prize winner, Liam Man’s striking photo “Ring of Fire and Ice,” making it clear just how strong the competition was this year.
What makes these images especially captivating is the way each photographer uses color not just as decoration, but as part of the story. Soft greens and blues create a quiet sense of wonder, fiery reds and oranges add drama, and surreal natural palettes turn familiar landscapes into something almost otherworldly. Whether captured by professionals or amateurs, these photos show how color can completely transform our experience of nature.
Scroll down to see the winning and honorable mention images that show the immense beauty of our planet’s natural phenomena, and don’t forget to vote for the ones that impressed you the most.
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#1 “Ring Of Fire And Ice” By Liam Man
Chromatic Awards 2025 Grand Prize Winner
1st Place in the Professional Division, Nature Category
Location: Glacier Leones, Patagonia, Chile
Description: “A “Ring of Fire” solar eclipse reaches annularity as two ice climbers summit the Glacier Leones in Patagonia. A drone illuminates the ice’s textures and colours, battling fierce winds that whip up plumes of snow that burn in the sun’s rays.
In the foreground, the ice is strewn with rocky debris, remnants of a landslide triggered upstream. As the glacier receded, its retreat destabilised the valley walls, making them prone to collapse. This initiated a self-perpetuating cycle with the debris darkening the ice, increasing infrared absorption and further accelerating the glacier’s melt.
Recent years has seen this glacier retreat at an alarming rate, in places loosing ten meters of thickness every year. A trend that is consistent across the globe. Amplified by greenhouse gasses, it signals the demise of our frozen landscapes. By the time an eclipse passes this location, forecasts predict that there will no longer be a glacier for anyone to stand upon.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#2 “When Mount Bromo Met The Sea Of Clouds I” By Ka Hei So
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Mount Bromo, East Java, Indonesia
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#3 “Überlebenskünstler” By Matthias Menge
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “Here you can see a tiny tree in a big way. This tree is only 10-15 cm tall. So I lay down to take the photo to make the little tree appear larger. I also wanted to incorporate the sun and create a sunburst effect within the tree. It’s truly fascinating how this little tree survives in the rock crevice and defies all kinds of weather.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#4 “Owl With A Bowtie” By Rodrigo Izquierdo
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “When you volunteer at a raptor rehabilitation center, sometimes you get the opportunity to release beautiful birds, like this gorgeous great horned owl that seems to have known he was going to be photographed and prepared by wearing what it looks like a bowtie. When birds take off, they usually go against the wind, which allowed me to place myself on higher ground with the sunset falling behind the path I expected the owl to take while taking off. This image was the result of a long time in rehabilitation, and years of photography practice.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#5 “Dune” By Piotr Brzozowski
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Namib Naukluft National Park
Description: “Unusual red dunes.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#6 “Crooked Tree” By Michaela Vinterová
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Bouřňák Mountain, Czech Republic
Description: “Peak beech forest on Bouřňák Mountain in the Ore Mountains, October 2024, Czech Republic.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#7 “Cosmic Structures” By Michał Kasperczyk
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “The Horsehead Nebula and its surroundings. It’s a bright emission nebula in the equatorial constellation of Orion. It was discovered on February 1 1786, by astronomer William Herschel. The nebula is located at a distance of approximately 1 260 light years from the Sun and spans the interior of a neutral hydrogen shell.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#8 “Burning Gaze” By Alfonso Rotunno
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “Burning gaze is a picture of a tree trunk that resembles a face. While walking in the forest, I came face to face with this old trunk and felt myself being observed. The hole in the trunk reminded me of an intense, burning gaze, so I decided to make this burning gaze more real. Through an image of flames and the white balance of the camera, I brought this image to life.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#9 “Antylope Canyon 3” By Ryszard Zembrzuski
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Antylope Canyon, Arizona, USA
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#10 “Simeis 147” By Peter Hergesheimer
3rd Place Winner in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “Known as the Spaghetti Nebula, this supernova remnant (SNR) straddles the border of the constellations Auriga and Taurus. At approximately 3000 light years from earth, it has an apparent diameter of 3 degrees which is about 6 full moons across but was not discovered until 1952 due to its low brightness. This image captures the lighted emitted by expanding ionized hydrogen and oxygen gases from the stellar explosion that took place some 40,000 years ago.
Total exposure time is 35.5 hours.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#11 “Out On A Limb” By Jim Guerard
2nd Place Winner in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “A male cheetah scales a tree and balances carefully on a small limb to scan the horizon for prey.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#12 “The Land Of Thorns” By Donald Bolak
1st Place Winner in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “Macro photography has the ability to transport us to sights unseen and places never visited. This surreal landscape of thorns looks like an other worldly mountain peak and foot hills.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#13 “Moonrise Sprites Over Storr” By Liam Man
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Old Man of Storr, Scotland
Description: “As a moonrise burns across the horizon, lights cut through the darkness, illuminating the Old Man of Storr, in Scotland.
Gale force winds howled through the night, and blizzards reduced visibility to nothing. Suddenly the storm passed, replaced by a soft silence, ice crystals remained suspended in the atmosphere through which the moonlight refracted into a fiery orange.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#14 “Whispers Of Light” By Ronja Linssen
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Bonn, Germany
Description: “In the heart of a dense forest, nature stages a quiet spectacle as fireflies weave glowing trails through the twilight. This photograph captures the fleeting dance of these bioluminescent creatures, illuminating the undergrowth like scattered stars. A wooden hunting stand stands silently among tall trees and wildflowers – a witness to the enchanting choreography unfolding in the fading light.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#15 “Trees Die Standing Up” By Piotr Brzozowski
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Sossusvlei Valley, Namib
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#16 “Tree Of Life” By Thibault Gerbaldi
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Iceland
Description: “From above, glacier rivers in Iceland’s highlands carve mesmerizing patterns into the volcanic soil. Meltwater carries fine sediments, creating vibrant swirls of color. Amidst the dark soil, bright lichens emerge, symbolizing nature’s resilience as life reclaims this harsh, yet stunning landscape.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#17 “The Memory Of The Sun” By Maya Hug
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Switzerland
Description: “High above the fading light, noctilucent clouds drift like a memory of the sun. Their fragile ice crystals mirror the last glow from beyond the horizon.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#18 “The Long Tongue Of Ice” By Sonia Luisi
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Aletsh Glacier, Switzerland
Description: “Aletsh Glacier is the longest and most extensive glacier in the Alps. It rises at 4,000 meters from the peaks of the Jungfrau and flows down to the Valais at 2,500 meters. Its river of ice, more than 20 kilometers long, is so immense that it is visible from every point of Oberland. A unique landscape where, in summer, the crevasses create megalithic electromagnetic shapes.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#19 “Sea Monster” By Lyubomir Momchilov
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Ahtopol, Bulgaria
Description: “Five-meter-high waves crash against the lighthouse of Ahtopol. At the moment of impact, the water formed a shape resembling a sea monster — a fleeting scene captured with a fast shutter speed.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#20 “Rosette Nebula” By Michał Kasperczyk
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “The Rosette Nebula is an hydrogen region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula’s matter.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#21 “Neural Canopy” By Sandeepa Wijey
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Description: “Neural Canopy explores the architecture of intelligence embedded within nature’s design. The sprawling limbs of this ancient tree located in the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka evoke a living neural network – an organic system shaped by time, adaptation, and persistence. Each branch appears to search for light and balance, tracing new pathways, yet remains grounded in the memory of where it began – this mirrors the structure of thought itself.
Some branches bend down to the earth and root again, giving rise to new growth. This act of regeneration turns the tree to its own continuation – a reminder that life renews itself though connection and return.
The image was composed to emphasise rhythm and tension within apparent chaos. A desaturated palette abstracts the tree from its environment, transforming it from a literal landscape into a meditation on pattern, order, and resilience. Subtle shifts in tone and light reveal the intricate dialogue between structure and space – a visual language that unites the biological and the cerebral.
A cool, desaturated palette and gentle tonal contrasts abstract the scene into rhythm and form, transforming a familiar landscape into a meditation structure, resilience and adaptation.
Neural Canopy is both portrait and reflection – a study of how order emerges from chaos, how the patterns of thought and nature often follow the same invisible logic to reveal intelligence.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#22 “Forest In The Clouds” By Claudia Barth
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Germany
Description: “When nature awakens early in the morning, but the mist has still laid its veil over the forest, glowing in the rising sunlight, and this veil allows the treetops to peek out, sometimes more, sometimes less, in the morning light, then it is a magical moment.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#23 “En Pointe” By Barry Crosthwaite
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Tsauchab River, Namibia
Description: “Deadvlei means “dead marsh.” The clay pan was formed through repeated flooding of the Tsauchab river, which allowed a forest of camel thorn trees to thrive in the middle of a valley surrounded by giant 1000′ sand dunes. A millennium ago the climate changed and the dunes fully enclosed the valley causing the trees to die. The wood is preserved through the heat of the sun and lack of rainfall. At dawn the direct backlighting of the sun causes the sand to explode in color, and the blue sky reflects off the white clay pan. One of the wonders of the world in my view.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#24 “Darker Shades Of White” By Benoit Meunier
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Scoresby Sund, Greenland
Description: “Aerial view of a massive iceberg in Scoresby Sund. Its whiteness gradually blends into the darkness of the underlying water. This image can be seen as a metaphor for melting ice and the transition towards the disappearance of these beautiful but fragile ecosystems. We are just there, on the boat, and we seem to be ignoring the reality of things.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#25 “Blooming Rafflesia” By Philipp Weigt
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Sumatra
Description: “This photo was taken during my trip to Sumatra. The Rafflesia flower in the picture was only 3 days old. It was the only one in the area, which made the moment even more special. I felt very lucky to see such a rare and beautiful flower in person.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#26 “Big Daddy” By Barry Crosthwaite
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Tsauchab River, Namibia
Description: “At 325m above the Deadvlei pan the scale of the giant sand dune named Big Daddy is something amazing to behold.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#27 “Balloon Eclipse” By Mateusz Witowski
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Krakow, Poland
Description: “Balloon on the background of the sunset, Krakow, Poland.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#28 “Thunder In The Clouds” By Matteo Redaelli
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Description: “At the center of the screen is a stunning image featuring a white lightning bolt cutting through a dramatic sky filled with deep blue and black storm clouds.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#29 “Spirits In The Sky” By Enrico Curti
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Description: “The lights of the North, they illuminate the sky during the long winter of the Polar region: like ethereal wraiths they suddenly appear and dance around, painting the sky all night long and enchanting us with their show.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#30 “Rocky Mountains” By Robert Nowak
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#31 “March Of Majesty” By Thomas Andy Branson
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Falkland Islands
Description: “In this evocative photograph taken on the Falkland Islands, a procession of king penguins advances across a haze of wind-swept sand, their silhouettes regal against the pale horizon. Clad in sleek robes of onyx, ivory, and gold, they move with solemn grace, as though enacting an ancient ritual born of instinct and endurance. Each deliberate stride echoes a legacy of survival, where elegance is not delicate but resolute. In this moment, nature offers a living ode — to unity, to dignity, and to the quiet majesty of life at the edge of the world.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#32 “Headed Out To Sea” By Rovert Nowak
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#33 “Grand Prismatic Spring” By Daniel Reiter
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Yellowstone National Park, USA
Description: “The images were taken from a small aircraft in Yellowstone National Park, the oldest national park in the world and now a world natural heritage site. The hot springs, geysers and bubbling mud pots fascinate with their variety of colors.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#34 “Fountain Paint Pot Trail” By Daniel Reiter
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Yellowstone National Park, USA
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#35 “Elements” By Thomas Maher
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Outer Banks, North Carolina, USA
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#36 “Blue Flight” By Pål Hermansen
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Description: “Butterfly flying up in the meadow.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#37 “A Place Called Home” By Fenqiang Liu
3rd Place Winner in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Louisiana, USA
Description: “On an early November morning, I was canoeing through a quiet Louisiana swamp just after sunrise. Soft morning light filtered through the trees, creating a peaceful yet otherworldly atmosphere. A Great Egret glided gracefully across the water, catching my attention and drawing my lens to the richness of the swamp—a warm, thriving place that many creatures call home.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#38 “When Mount Bromo Met The Sea Of Clouds III” By Ka Hei So
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Mount Bromo, East Java, Indonesia
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#39 “Under The Breath Of Light” By Thomas De Franzoni
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Friuli Venezia, Giulia, Italy
Description: “I love to explore streams and forests in search of new, hidden places where nature reveals its quiet beauty. This image captures one of those moments — where water, rocks, and autumn light merge into a peaceful harmony.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#40 “Strawflower” By Ju. Steckiewicz
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#41 “Realm Of Serenity” By Yang Tsan Jung
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “This photograph captures the gentle beauty of cherry blossoms in full bloom, set against a clear blue sky. Using a shallow depth of field, I focused on the soft textures and warm colors of the petals to highlight their delicate, fleeting nature. The image invites viewers to pause and appreciate the quiet elegance of spring and the passing of time.
This photograph captures the gentle beauty of cherry blossoms in full bloom, set against a clear blue sky. Using a shallow depth of field, I focused on the soft textures and warm colors of the petals to highlight their delicate, fleeting nature. The image invites viewers to pause and appreciate the quiet elegance of spring and the passing of time. This photograph captures the gentle beauty of cherry blossoms in full bloom, set against a clear blue sky. Using a shallow depth of field, I focused on the soft textures and warm colors of the petals to highlight their delicate, fleeting nature. The image invites viewers to pause and appreciate the quiet elegance of spring and the passing of time. This photograph captures the gentle beauty of cherry blossoms in full bloom, set against a clear blue sky. Using a shallow depth of field, I focused on the soft textures and warm colors of the petals to highlight their delicate, fleeting nature. The image invites viewers to pause and appreciate the quiet elegance of spring and the passing of time. This photograph captures the gentle beauty of cherry blossoms in full bloom, set against a clear blue sky. Using a shallow depth of field, I focused on the soft textures and warm colors of the petals to highlight their delicate, fleeting nature. The image invites viewers to pause and appreciate the quiet elegance of spring and the passing of time.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#42 “Issitoq” By Benoit Meunier
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Scoresby Sund, Greenland
Description: “Issittoq means iceberg in Greenlandic. This is an aerial view of icebergs in Scoresby Sund. Their sizes and shapes create abstract forms evoking distant space. They seem to gradually disappear into nothingness.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#43 “Icelandic Poppy” By Ecaterina Leonte
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “Long exposure of Icelandic Poppy.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#44 “Form” By Laury Socha
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “This is a 35mm color photograph capturing the reflection of a tree on a river. The water is clear and reveals a green river floor, with rich tonality giving depth and movement to the reflection.
The white throughout the image and the movement from the ripples in the water complicate the reflection in the image along with viewers’ understandings. Viewers are left to contemplate the tension between such a clear, legible reflection and the layers and movement in the image.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#45 “Fading Beauty” By Rachel Nixon
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “Curving in all directions, I find this dying tulip much more interesting than a pristine flower in full bloom. Its many tones and colors, the twists, turns and textures of the petals, its asymmetry — they all add up to a life well-lived.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#46 “Crown Of Moss And Memory” By Jahnise Schneider
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Description: “A towering elder wrapped in green stands sentinel over a grassy path. Rising from a carpet of wildflowers, it reigns like a monarch of a long-lost forest kingdom, holding the forgotten knowledge of worlds long past.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#47 “The Tree House” By Itamar Matsry
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Son Tra Peninsula, Vietnam
Description: “The Son Tra Peninsula is a unique place, covered in wild forest. It is home to one of nature’s most unique creatures – the Red Shanked Douc Langur. It lives only in Southeast Asia and is in critically endangered. Here in the picture, a semi-bare tree, which I photographed from its height, and between its branches a langur is looking.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#48 “The Sleeping Giant” By Axel Ellerhorst
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Normandy, France
Description: “The photograph “The Sleeping Giant” is a motif from my “Creatures” series. The idea for this series was born using pareidolia, which describes the phenomenon of recognizing supposed faces and familiar beings or objects in things and patterns. Taken on a beach in Normandy on a cloudy day in winter 2024.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#49 “The Painted Andes” By Alexandre Brisson
Honorable Mention in the Natured Category, Professional Division
Location: Palcoyo Rainbow Mountains, Peru
Description: “The Palcoyo Rainbow Mountains, in the high Andes of Peru, reveal the earth’s history in color. Formed by mineral deposits over millions of years, their layers of red, blue, and yellow unfold like brushstrokes across the mountainside. This photograph captures the natural geometry and subtle gradients that make Palcoyo a quieter, yet equally mesmerizing counterpart to the more famous Vinicunca.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#50 “Sandstone Songs” By André Vroon
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Cederberg mountains, South Africa
Description: “Rocks sculpted by bright sunlight and shadow into seemingly distinct, angular shapes, as photographed on a hike in the Cederberg mountains of South Africa earlier this year. The abstract shapes in the composition all have their own peculiar form, color and texture and have a pleasant arrangement across the frame without overpowering each other. The orange and reddish hues are caused by high concentrations of oxidized iron and manganese in the ancient sandstone.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#51 “Flow” By Alfredo Ingraldo
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Anapo River, Sicily
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#52 “Fairy Summer” By Sebastien Kech
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Gourgue d’Asque, France
Description: “In the heart of the Pyrenees, within the Gourgue d’Asque—often called the “Little Amazon”—the scene unfolds like a hidden dream. A soft veil of fog drifts above the quiet river, blurring the distance and adding a sense of mystery. At the foreground, lush ferns reach out, their delicate fronds glistening with moisture, while layers of dense vegetation spread beneath the canopy’s green embrace. The thick foliage and filtered light create a palette of deep, vibrant greens, where every leaf seems alive with detail. The mist, the river’s gentle flow, and the wild abundance of plant life merge into a mystic atmosphere, as if nature is guarding a secret only revealed to those who wander here.”
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#53 “Celestine Pool” By Daniel Reiter
3rd Place Winner in the Nature Category, Professional Division
Location: Yellowstone National Park, USA
Image source: Chromatic Awards
#54 “Xerochrysum Bracteatum” By Ju. Steckiewicz
Honorable Mention in the Nature Category, Amateur Division
Location: Cologne, Germany
Image source: Chromatic Awards
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