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  3. 15 Of The World's Top Photographers Share Their Favourite Nature Images


Nature is inspiring. Plain and simple. There’s nothing better to instill a sense of the greater good, than seeing a breath-taking landscape.

This can happen in many ways, whether it’s a simple walk in the park or trekking halfway up a mountain, there is plenty of opportunities that produce awe-inspiring moments. Sometimes when you’re not even looking for them and least expect it.

Perhaps it’s a red summer sky, or a crisp frosty morning in winter. Scraping the ice off your car isn’t so bad when it’s the first snowfall of the year and the snow is still fresh.

We wanted to create a post that allows our readers to sit back and truly be wowed by the power of nature, as captured in an image. We decided the best way to do this would be to contact some of the world’s top photographers and ask them to share their favorite nature images. Boy did they deliver.

In this post, you’ll find some of the most awe inspiring images that truly capture nature's beauty. Some of which took hours, even days of sitting and waiting to capture, others were taken when the perfect opportunity just happened to arise and the photographer scrambled to get their camera’s out in time to frame it, but they did.

​Important, please read:
The images in this post are neither CC0 nor free-to-use images. They have been graciously provided by the photographers for this article, but they are not available for download from Pikwizard and should not be used without the photographer's permission. If you would like to search for free to-use nature images, you can always find them on Pikwizard​

Michael Shainblum

Michael Shainblum

My favorite photos change quite a bit. I do not think I could list one exact favorite image, I have ever taken as each photo showcases a unique experience and each one required its own challenges. One of my personal favorite shots is "Phoenix" taken at a very popular beach in San Francisco, one of the most visited day by day. People come to the beach and line up to take photos at sunset and of the Golden Gate Bridge. I was super proud at the composition I came up with and to shoot the location in a unique way. The image was very hard to shoot technically and water was constantly splashing over my head as I desperately attempted to take exposures. I was also shooting directly into a bright sunset, which created its own challenges in post production.

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Vincent Croce


Vincent Croce

These curved beech trees are located in the Eastern part of The Netherlands and very close to where I grew up​. I shot many photos at this exact spot, but waited a long time for conditions to be just perfect. That happened on the 1st of December 2015. I used my Canon EOS 650D equipped with a 17-40 f4 wide angle lens. Shot from the hand, 1/50 sec, f/6.3 iso 200.

Social Media Accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/vincentcroce/

Bobby Joshi


Bobby Joshi

Shot in the backwaters of Kerala, India, this is one of my favourite images of daybreak. The colours are intensified and the landscape looks lush because of the rising sun. The banks on either side create the perfect balance and the motion of the boat indicates that we’re moving towards a brand new day. Love the feel of how this image talks about a slow languid motion, and yet, conveys so much stillness.

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Greg Du Toit


Greg Du Toit

I would like to be remembered by this photo. Wildlife photography is more than just a profession for me. It’s grown out of a passion and love for the wild places and animals of Africa. This photo represents the Wild Africa of my dreams. The lioness in this photo is a free-ranging lion, meaning she still lives beyond the park and reserve boundaries. This photo, for me represents the true meaning of wilderness.

Social Media Accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/gregdutoit/

Gavin Seim


Gavin Seim

My Favorite photo is the last best one I took. Having Said That Thor’s Well is one of my all time favorite for it’s pleasing lines and mixing of warm and cool.

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Liu Bolin


Liu Bolin

My favorite photo is the winter solstice. Because this is my first work on the air pollution of China's reality. I took this work on this day of the winter solstice in 2015. I've asked the best dancer in China to help me finish this work. This works to express the Chinese people's thinking of the real problem and the reality of the struggle for our Chinese people's fate.

Social Media Accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/liubolin/?hl=en


Theo Bosboom

I think it shows nature in a new way, it is creative and it is an image that you have to look at a couple of times before you understand it. Besides that, it is taken in my favourite time of the year, autumn. For some time I have been fascinated by the dynamics of underwater landscapes in small mountain streams and brooks. In a small brook in the Netherlands (Levenumse beek) I found a small waterfall, just under a couple of beautiful autumn trees. I got into the water and experimented with half/half images, with the bubbles of the waterfall combined with the autumn landscape above water we know so much better.

Social Media Accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/theobosboom/

Jim Zuckerman


Jim Zuckerman

This is my favorite nature image because it shows an intimate moment of a spectacular animal. The eyes are intense, the tongue is fully extended, and the body language of the crouch is powerful. I photographed the leopard in Sabi Sabi, South Africa at 10 frames per second to catch every nuance of the action.

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Charles Glatzer


Charles Glatzer

No one had seen the bobcat for a few days, but I continued glassing along the Madison River and noticed a small mound that was not covered by snow. It was difficult to be certain, but I believed this to be the back of the bobcat, and so I waited. After about 45 min the mound stirred, the bobcat stretched, and went about stalking prey. I photographed the entire event, the stalking, diving into the water to grab the duck, and this image of the cat dragging its prey up the river bank in deep snow. This is not an every day occurrence, in fact it is one of those once in a lifetime moments wildlife photographers dream about encountering.I love taking images in inclement weather, showing animals in environments many will never get to see, nor want to experience.

Social Media Accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/charlesglatzer/

Jaron Schneider


Jaron Schneider

Taken from midway up Mount Hood, this photo is my favorite landscape image because it’s unusual. The wildfires in 2015 were particularly fierce, even by West Coast standards. The smoke and fire painted the sky crimson, giving Mount Jefferson an eerie and post apocalyptic glow, exemplifying the phrase “beauty in destruction.”

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Joshua Holko


Joshua Holko

It’s my favourite as its highly evocative with the back lit steaming breath of the bear in golden winter light with the added bonus of the bear being on a fresh seal kill.

Social Media Accounts:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JoshuaHolko

Connor Stefanison


Connor Stefanison

Although this isn't the best photo I've made, it is certainly one of the most memorable. Being able to spend so much time with this beautiful and tolerant Common Loon was something that I don't think I'll ever get to experience again.

Social Media Accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/connorstefanison/

Deborah Neary


Deborah Neary

My choice is this blade of grass with a single drop of dew. Its one of my favorites because it is the kind of tiny thing we all would simply walk past and never notice. It is so fleeting and there is beauty like this everywhere and many times right under our feet we just need to look closely and take our time to really see its loveliness. I enjoy capturing these tiny things so that anyone who notices my photograph can also have a moment to see this miracle of Nature.

Social Media Accounts:

https://www.facebook.com/WomanInNature/

Rick Nunn


Rick Nunn

My 2 favourite people, deep in some nature. What's not to like!

Social Media Accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/ricknunn/

Rick Sammon


Rick Sammon

I call this photograph “Love Bite” because these lions were mating. Well, actually, the male wanted to mate and the female did not, as you can see from here bite. Like many of my photographs, I call this a lucky shot, but of course I was prepared to capture the action by setting my camera for action photography: high frame rate and AI (artificial intelligence) Servo focus, which tracks moving subjects. I took the photograph on one of my Botswana photo workshops. In Botswana, you don’t see as many animals as you do in Kenya and Tanzania, but you also see fewer people in safari vehicles, which makes encounters like this one very special.

Social Media Accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/ricksammonphotography/