This year marks our seventh annual Garden for Wildlife® Photo Contest! This contest celebrates the power of photography to communicate the importance of supporting wildlife where people live. Whether that’s in a local park, community greenspace, balcony garden, or even your very own backyard, we want to see your photos!
You can learn more about the contest, see past winners, and learn about prizes by clicking here!
Introducing Our NEW Submission Categories
This year, we’re giving a refresh to our five submission categories. Explore our NEW categories and their descriptions below.
Native Plants in the Garden
From close-up shots of plants to wide landscape images of native gardens, this category celebrates native plants in all their forms! Images in this category can feature native plants in a variety of settings and seasons (yes, even plants with brown leaves in winter can be joyful subjects for photos!). Not sure how to tell if a plant is native? Use a plant-ID app to learn more about your subject or ask a local expert!
Wildlife in the Garden
Wildlife gardens bring in all kinds of animals including, insects, arthropods, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and so many more! Photos in this category might be close-ups of wildlife, action shots showing wildlife behavior, or even wide landscape photos featuring wildlife in the frame.
Candid and Funny Moments in the Garden
We’ve seen several chuckle-worthy and candid photos over the years. Maybe it’s a funny face that an animal made when you snapped a photo, a mobile-phone photo that caught a great moment in your garden, or a candid shot of you or someone else actively gardening! It might even be an in-progress portion of your garden that makes you chuckle (we all have those!).
Yearly Changing Category: Small Space Gardens and Habitat
Variety is the spice of life, so we’re introducing a yearly rotating category for added fun! Each year, we’ll select a new theme for this submission category. For 2025, the focus is Small Space Gardens and Habitat.
We want to see your photos of plants, animals, people, and even habitat elements like bird houses in tiny gardens! These gardens could be balcony container gardens, small community greenspaces, urban gardens, and more. Even small gardens can have a huge impact on wildlife, and we want to celebrate that in this year’s photo contest!
Youth Category (Ages 13-17)
For our photographers aged 13-17, we have a special category just for you! Starting this year, all youth submitting to this category will have their submission fees waived!
Check out some of our winners from the 2024 contest above to get inspired! Learn more about these photos here.
Your Photo Contest Questions Answered
Does my photo need to be taken in my own garden to count for the contest?
No, it does not! This photo contest focuses on highlighting “backyard wildlife”, but this does not mean it has to be taken in your backyard. We define “backyard wildlife” to include any animals, plants, and fungi that benefit from green spaces where people are a dominant factor. While this may include your own backyard garden, it also includes places like parks, community green spaces, school gardens, roadside habitat, places of worship, workplaces, and so much more!
These wildlife gardens are incredibly important in human-dominated environments as they provide habitat that may have been destroyed when the land was developed for housing or business. Learn more about the impact of gardening for wildlife here!
Does the photo need to be taken in 2025 to qualify for the 2025 Garden for Wildlife® Photo Contest?
No, you can submit photos from any year! If you’ve been taking nature photos for years, you likely already have quite a few great shots that would fit into our new submission categories. Even so, getting your camera out this summer can be a great opportunity to capture photos that fit our submission categories, especially our yearly changing category!
Where can I learn more about the photo contest?
Learn more about the photo contest here and join our mailing list to get updated when the contest opens for submissions!
We can’t wait to see your photos!
Imagine yourself, camera in hand, suddenly spotting a grazing elk, a hummingbird feeding its chicks, a grizzly charging a rival or a bumble bee gathering pollen. You want the shot, but how do you get it without disturbing the natural behavior of the beautiful animal you’re hoping to capture through your lens?
Find four compelling answers to this question in a brief and beautiful video from National Wildlife magazine, highlighting the work of wildlife photographer Claudio Contreras Koob. A winner in the magazine’s 2017 photo contest, Koob offers four basic tips that any photographer—amateur and professional alike—can use to make ethical images in the field, whether it’s in your own backyard or around the globe. His advice:
Be invisible.
To avoid disturbing an animal, keep a suitable distance, approach very slowly and wear camouflage or use a blind. “You have to get them to accept you as if you were a stone,” says Koob.
Know your subjects.
“Learn the behaviors of what you are going to photograph,” says Koob. “They have a language, and they are always telling us what they think, but we have to understand it.”
Take your time.
“Give yourself a lot of time to return and return and return … so you can understand the cycles of life and death in the place you want to photograph,” says Koob. While photographing flamingoes, for example, Koob says he “could see their reactions to my presence and I could see that there was no problem if I really made it slow, slow, slow.”
Do not disturb.
“No image is as important as the creature that you are photographing or as the environment that you are photographing,” says Koob. Animals can be easily spooked. So tread lightly, and if you notice even a small change in an animal’s behavior—especially if the animal is courting, feeding, nesting, or with its young—slowly and quietly move away.
Koob’s final bit of advice has special value for the millions of avid amateur photographers out there who may think that the greatest wildlife images have to come from the hands of a pro in an African savanna or some other exotic locale. “You can go in your backyard and find conservation stories out there and find beautiful details.” he says, “In the details, there are lots of beautiful things to see.”
We, the editors of National Wildlife magazine, have seen how true that is. Hundreds of people who submit images to our annual photo contest are amateur photographers who see the beauty in the details—people like house painter Dave Weth, whose image of a green sweat bee landed on the cover of our December-January 2018 issue, and people like Anne Grimes, whose lovely image of a crab spider shedding its skin won second place for backyard habitats in our 2017 contest.
These people, and everyone else who submits to National Wildlife’s annual contest, take the time to see and appreciate the natural world. So, please submit your favorite photographs to our annual photo contest. All entries are judged blind, so everyone has an equal chance to win. And every entry, whether a winner or not, helps advance the conservation work of the National Wildlife Federation.
Show us how you see the world!
We’ve all heard the sayings about human pairs, but wildlife pairs make for some adorable competition. And since this year’s National Wildlife Photo Contest is open as we celebrate Valentine’s Day, I’ve combed through the archives for some photogenic wildlife duos. Enjoy a few favorites and enter your favorite wildlife photos before the contest closes!
I Spy with my little eye…
These adorable red foxes were spotted by Mavourneen Strozewski in Utah. They were playing and turned when they heard some rustling in the sagebrush, giving a perfect opportunity for this snap.
Seeing Double?
Deborah Pearse nicknamed these frogmouth chicks Bill and Bub on her regular visits to see them while they fledged.
On the Catwalk
Theodore Mattas spied these cubs’ mother from his vehicle, and when they saw him, “They felt insecure due to human presence and immediately started walking side by side to gain confidence!”
A Stroll, My Dear?
This pair of King penguins certainly speaks to our idea of a couple. Beverly Houwing captured this moment that looks like they are holding hands as they walk along the beach at St. Andrew’s Bay on South Georgia Island.
I’ve Got Your Back
These Alaskan coastal brown bear cubs were near a small group of photographers while their mother looked on from a distance.
Have you spotted wildlife that rival these adorable pairs? Enter your favorite images into this year’s National Wildlife Photo Contest for your shot at our $5,000 Grand Prize! There are also cash prizes in all seven categories, so there are plenty of chances to win. Learn more about the contest and enter before March 20!
Since 2011, National Wildlife Photo Contest entrants have had the choice to share their photos in the public gallery and open them up to voting in the running for the People’s Choice Award. It’s been exciting to watch the four top voted photos from each week become the People’s Choice finalists and then see those finalists compete in the final round for the most public votes.
Contest judges are reviewing each and every photo in this year’s entries to pick the 2014 grand prize winner and the first and second place winners for each category. We expect to notify winners in early October and the winning images will be published online in November 2014!
Be One of the First to See the Winners
Sign up to get an email when the 2014 winners are released and get other nature photography and wildlife updates from National Wildlife Federation.
The images below have been submitted to the National Wildlife Photo Contest over the past few years and they are a great reminders that there is beauty in the details – even in your own backyard! Snap away and see what you can capture!
National Wildlife Photo Contest
The National Wildlife Photo Contest is in its last week of submissions – the deadline has been extended to July 20th, 2014 so don’t miss your chance! Don’t wait another second to get outside, capture nature’s beauty with your camera, and submit! We can’t wait to see what you capture!
Visit our Nature Photography Tips Center for ideas and advice from pro photographers on photographing flowers, small animals, and more.
Swim
Splash
Sprint
Scoot
Pounce
Hover
Breakdance
Leap
Butt
Jump
Chest Bump
Dabble
Slide
Hang
Slither
Wrestle
Flap
Dive
Climb
Surf
Relax
Sometimes after all that action, it’s time to just relax.
For more great wildlife photos…
If you’d like to see more wildlife and nature pictures, check out the National Wildlife Photo Contest. And if you’re a nature photographer, enter to win great prizes, like a trip to photograph polar bears and a chance to have your pictures in National Wildlife Magazine.
And later…
Be Part of the 2014 National Wildlife Photo Contest!
Enter your own photos for a chance to win, or vote for and share your favorite images in this year’s National Wildlife Photo Contest. The $20 entry fee helps support National Wildlife Federation’s work to protect wildlife and wild places.
Jennifer has won a $500 gift certificate from Borrow Lenses and her photo will appear in the December 2013/January 2014 issue of National Wildlife magazine alongside judged winners.
Be One of the First to See the Judged Winners!
Sign up with us to get photo contest updates, including a notice when the rest of the 2013 winners are announced this fall, other emails about photography and ways you can help wildlife. Sign up today >>
…And if you have voted, did you know that you can vote once a day and share your favorite photo around to help boost its votes? Yup, that’s right. Go vote!
Flamingo suspects you won’t find an animal with prettier plumage to vote for, but still thinks that shouldn’t stop you.
Blue shark thinks you should get your friends to vote, too. Sharing is caring.
This impala is sad that you can only vote once a day.
Jumping spider will stare at you uncomfortably until you vote.
This red fox wants to point out that voting would be like giving the photographer a high five for their awesome photo.
Osprey wants to know why you’re still here. Go vote!
Last day to vote for the People’s Choice Award is August 11th!
You can vote once a day for your favorite finalist and when you’re done, select “Browse other contest entries” to see more incredible entries in this year’s National Wildlife Photo Contest. We’ll announce the results online on August 12th.
Snorkeling with an American crocodile
“In Cuba, a friend and I went a couple of times snorkeling with an American crocodile that lives in a mangrove in the Jardines de La Reina. In the last day we were there we could get very close to the crocodile. Because of the silt being stirred by the crocodile, the water visibility sometimes was reduced and we tried to approach even more the crocodile to get sharper shot. At one point we were so close that it was hard to take a picture of the crocodile without having my friend on the shot. So I decided to include him on the frame and register this amazing moment of being so close to a creature full of sharp teeth.”
Glass Frog
“I owe great thanks to my Costa Rican guides for venturing out at night and finding this glass frog, which due to their small size and translucence are extremely difficult to find. With this photograph, I wanted to highlight the frog’s eyes which exhibit amazing geometric patterns. I created this image by shooting with my lens aperture wide open, throwing everything except the eyes out of focus. It’s as if this pair of wild eyes are disembodied orbs just floating in the green glow. An off-camera light was positioned below the leaf the frog was sitting upon, and a diffused flash was positioned above it, creating a luminescence that envelops the frog.”
Fishing Bat
“The fishing bat, Noctilio, uses its amazing sonar abilities to detect miniature ‘bumps’ in the water surface to detect minnow sized fish. With its long claws, it then rakes the fish out of water an eats it on the wing.”
Firefly
“In the Czech Republic where I grew up, I only saw fireflies a couple of times, deep in the forest. When I came to the United States, I was shocked and thrilled to see the abundance of fireflies and their amazing glow. I was happy to encounter this firefly in my backyard and photograph its magical bioluminescence.”
Grizzly Chasing Salmon
“The picture was taken in August 2010 during a 5 days stay at Hallo Bay, where I had an amazing experience living in close contact with these wonderful animals. Since there are no water falls to cause temporary trap of sorts in the Hallo Bay rivers as there are in other areas of Katmai National Park such as Brooks Falls or McNeil River, here the bears use a different fishing technique. With the low tide the bears fish along the coast, at the mouth of the creeks, and then, when the salmons enter the creeks with the high tide, they move in with the salmons and try to catch them with spectacular jumps in the water. They say that, on average, only one on five attempts succeeds. The day I took the picture was cloudy, the light was quite poor, but thanks to a good timing, the high shutter speed and the splashes enlightening the scene I managed to freeze the action. It’s been one sole, lucky moment, for the salmon and also for me.”
Molting Cicada
“Cicadas are insects that live below ground for several years as juvenile nymphs. When their internal clock rings, the nymph burrows from the ground, climbs a plant or other suitable object and commences the transformation to become an adult. At dusk, the nymph’s shell splits open, and the soft, pale adult begins pushing out. After it has freed itself from its larval husk, it begins to harden. By dawn, the cicada is ready to live its life as an adult. I am privileged to have witnessed and shot this photograph of the Cicada that had freed itself from the shell and was hardening. I photographed the amazing phenomenon of the Cicada’s Transformation at the Whetstone Park in Columbus, Ohio. I made the conscious effort to include the shell, the hardening adult and a little of the tree branch so that the complete story is told in one photograph.”
Lava Flowing into the Ocean on the Big Island of Hawaii
“As lava flows into the ocean, the contrast in temperatures creates some amazing photo opportunities. On this evening, the sun was setting. The lower light made for longer exposures, capturing the trails of the exploding lava.”
King Penguin Adult and Chicks
“After a wet zodiac landing at Gold Harbor on South Georgia Island we wandered about an amazing King Penguin colony that easily had over 100,000 animals. The 9 month old King Penguin chicks called ‘Oakum Boys’ were the highlight. They were comical to watch as they ran around chirping, falling down and bumping into each other. They seemed to love hanging out and playing with each other. Every once in a while an adult wandering among the chicks which really highlighted the differences between the King Penguin babies and the mature adults.”
“The vine snake is master of camouflage. When it’s in between leaves, it’s almost impossible to spot one. But when it comes out, it’s quite easy. This amazing one was crossing the road when we found it. When we approached it, it stood up still without any movement to avoid detection.”
If you like this…
Check out the photos in the final voting round to win the People’s Choice Award in the 2013 National Wildlife Photo Contest. Vote for your favorite before August 12th!