Thank you to all the photographers that shared their best nature images in the Celebrating Nature Photo Contest with chances to win a Canon 5D MK III and more!

A special thanks to our friend and professional photographer Trace Aiken for his collaboration as a guest judge in this photo contest. Trace has been teaching photography since he was in high school, and after a long career in commercial/advertising and editorial photography in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta, he is currently based in Florida where he spends time mentoring and teaching photography and working on a number of personal creative projects strongly influenced by a love for the sea. His first film “eye kissed the sea,” captured and edited on an iPhone, was chosen by Celine Cousteau as one of five finalists which premiered in New York at the Ocean Inspiration Celebration for Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s 100th birthday.

People's Choice
Grand Jury Winner

"This beautiful image of double waterfalls kept coming back to me with every pass of all of the choices. Excellent composition, choice in exposure to get the right combination of still-motion and blur in the water, and above all else the exquisite combination of warm and cool color make this image the stand-out choice for the Grand Prize." - Trace Aiken

Runner Up

"This image jumped out immediately as having that elusive quality of timeless ambiance. One thing that I look for when I think of “Nature” is relationship. There is what Steiglitz called an equivalence here in the branches of the tree and the antlers of the elk. The feeling, mood, and choice of perspective and post-processing are quite poetic. It was a hard choice between this and the Grand Prize Winner." - Trace Aiken

Runner Up

"All the right notes were hit in this image from Scotland. From the low wide-angle vertical perspective to the choice of long exposure settings to capture just the right quality of movement, this image was another stand-out that captures an elusive quality of light and subject in a perfect moment." - Trace Aiken

Runner Up

"Again we come to one of what I consider to be a hallmark of “Nature”: Relationship. This absolutely delightful dance between a momma bear and her cub on an Alaskan shore is something we as humans can relate to in our own experiences at the beach with our parents or children. The whimsy of the moment and the simple tones and composition lend themselves to a great image. " - Trace Aiken

Runner Up

"This gorgeous black & white image was another I kept coming back to for the rich quality and depth of the tones, and the sublime light.
The eye is lead through the composition snake-like along the light and water pathway, resting on the small boat and eddy in the left foreground.
Great composition, and choice of long exposure gives this image an ethereal quality that shows us nature in a way our eyes don’t normally see, and I love that quality." - Trace Aiken

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"Osprey Hit" by geopic

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