If you just had a quick glance at the above image, you might think it was a screenshot from the latest hit show or nature documentary. But no—it’s one of the winners of this year’s Wiki Loves Earth photo contest.
For more than a decade, this volunteer-organized competition has been capturing the breathtaking essence of the planet’s natural heritage. Photos of all sorts of nature, from iconic national parks to hidden gems in local green spaces, are eligible.
Wiki Loves Earth’s winners each year fall into two categories: a “landscapes” category for wider shots and a “macro/close-up” category (including animals, plants, fungi). This year, Wiki Loves Earth received nearly 80,000 submissions from over 5,200 participants in 57 countries—the latter figure being the most countries to ever compete in the contest.
From the submissions, 618 were selected by local jury teams and forwarded to the international competition. You can learn more about Wiki Loves Earth and its full rules on its website.
Check out details on all twenty winners below.
Macro/close-ups category
1st place (macro/close-ups): The photo at the top of this post comes from Bolivia’s Carrasco National Park. Wiki Loves Earth’s contest judges heaped acclaim on User:Edunavia1’s photo. One praised the photographer for the color, lighting, and chosen perspective, which all added up to “a chef’s kiss to me.” Another said that the dramatic lighting gave the photo “an almost cinematic intensity.”
One more judge called out the drama inherent in the photo, with the combination of the snake’s pose, curves, scales, and eyes coming together for “an unrivaled capture of the reptile’s beauty in a single frame.” They added that the photo “might be the most striking photo in the entire competition”—and it indeed took home first-place honors.
Photo by Buggingitout, CC BY-SA 4.0
2nd place (macro/close-ups): The aptly named User:Buggingitout was walking beside a river in England’s The Broads National Park when they spotted this common blue damselfly. The entire fly appears in focus because of Buggingitout’s use of the focus stack technique, which combines multiple photos with different focuses to create one clear image.
Photo by Sven Damerow, CC BY-SA 4.0
3rd place (macro/close-ups): Sven Damerow is appearing in the Wiki Loves Earth international winners for a fourth time (including a first-place shot in 2019). This time, his camera found a couple of Eurasian hoopoes perhaps competing over the morsel of food being held by both of their beaks. This was one judge’s favorite photo in the competition, as it demonstrated “the interaction between the birds” and showed “how different these birds are.” They added that “even the light falling through the foliage on one of the birds beautifully emphasized this.” Another photo from Damerow appeared at macro #7.
Photo by Redante Auxilian/Rauxilian, CC BY-SA 4.0
5th place (macro/close-ups): An enormous ball of yellowstripe scad are seen here backlit from the sun above the water. Photographer Redante Auxilian dove beneath the waves in Tawi-Tawi, Sibutu and Tumindao Islands, the Philippines, to get this photo. One judge noted that his photo was strongly aligned with part of the reason for Wiki Loves Earth’s existence, which is to “unravel the many unseen wonders of our planet.”
Photo by A. H. M Ibnul Arabi, CC BY-SA 4.0
6th place (macro/close-ups): The circle of life is shown in this photo of a dead Bengal monitor and an ant trying to carry away a small amount of its flesh. Taken by A. H. M Ibnul Arabi in Bangladesh’s National Botanical Garden, a contest judge called out the image’s “heartbreaking” storytelling, and another liked that it could be used for a “learning purpose.”
Photo by Sven Damerow, CC BY-SA 4.0
7th place (macro/close-ups): In Sven Damerow’s second photo to place among this year’s Wiki Loves Earth macro winners, this Glanville fritillary butterfly is hanging out in Germany’s Wittenberge-Rühstädter Elbniederung Nature Reserve. One contest judge enjoyed that the photo looked like it could have been intentionally “made for an encyclopedia or for a well-illustrated book on the topic.” Damerow’s other photo appeared at macro #3.
Photo by Mark Kineth Kasindac, CC BY-SA 4.0
8th place (macro/close-ups): To an untrained eye, this might look like just another weevil. But according to photographer Mark Kineth Kasindac, this particular weevil’s color scheme is quite unusual: instead of its typical dark to cobalt blue, this one is more turquoise. “Everything about this frame is beautiful,” said one judge. Two of Mark’s photos took a combined sixth place in the macros last year.
Photo by Lukas Kott, CC BY-SA 4.0
9th place (macro/close-ups): Photographer Lukas Kott found the perfect angle in the Czech Republic’s Poodří Protected Landscape Area to document this male Eurasian hoopoe‘s return with food for his mate. Kott, who also took the #4 macros image above, received praise for this photo from the judges for its composition, technical skill, and lighting. Another one of Lukas’ photos placed at #4 in the macros section.
Photo by Nishant Sharma/Nishant Sharma Parajuli, CC BY-SA 4.0
10th place (macro/close-ups): Thankfully, a camera was not on the menu today for this tawny cat snake. Photographer Nishant Sharma staged this with the evening light in Nepal’s Godawari National Botanical Garden. “A good composition creates the effect of presence and a sense of tension,” said one judge.
Landscapes category
Photo by Markus Albert/Markusmachtphotos, CC BY-SA 4.0
1st place (landscapes): This year’s overall winner in the landscapes category features Markus Albert’s portrayal of a European beech tree at the height of a German autumn. Found in Germany’s Rhön Biosphere Reserve, its color presents a stark contrast with what looks to be fog in the background.
The Wiki Loves Earth contest judges gave high accolades to this image for its vivid visuals and technical skill, including one who called out the use of the surrounding trees as effective leading lines. Another called out the “immersive effect” created by Albert’s chosen perspective.
Photo by Thiago Marcel Campi/Thiagomarcelcampi, CC BY-SA 4.0
2nd place (landscapes): Coming in second place is a portrayal of climate change’s effects on the low-lying Ilha do Cardoso State Park in southeastern Brazil. Thiago Marcel Campi, the photographer, noted that rising sea levels are increasingly encroaching on the park’s marshes and mangrove trees.
Photo by Ahmad Faihan Almutairi/Di7ane, CC BY-SA 4.0
3rd place (landscapes): This aerial photo of a stream emerging north of Sulaibikhat, a district of Kuwait City, came to us from Ahmad Faihan Almutairi. One judge thought it was a “stunning” shot that “exemplifies the grandeur of landscape,” and another noted that its “abstract treatment” was “effective without compromising its context as a framed landscape.” Another photo from Almutairi placed at #4 in the landscapes category.
Photo by Ahmad Faihan Almutairi/Di7ane, CC BY-SA 4.0
4th place (landscapes): Found just west of photo #3, Ahmad Faihan Almutairi flew their drone to capture this view of Kuwait’s Jahra Nature Reserve. One judge said that this had a “painterly feel,” while another called out the “vibrant blue river water juxtaposed against arid earth tones” that evoked “a sense of serene isolation.” Another photo from Almutairi placed at #3 in the landscapes category.
Photo by Missoni Francesco/Scosse, CC BY-SA 4.0
5th place (landscapes): Far into northeastern Italy, this stunning photo of Federa Lake and the mountains of Ampezzo Dolomites Natural Park comes to you courtesy of photographer Missoni Francesco. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the contest judges called out the photo’s deep depth. Another one of Francesco’s photos placed 6th in last year’s Wiki Loves Earth landscapes category.
Photo by Nathan Atkinson/Miura-photo, CC BY-SA 4.0
6th place (landscapes): Once upon a time, a glacier carved its way through northern England and left this canyon behind. Known as High Cup Gill or High Cup Nick, it can be viewed from the Pennine Way national trail. Nathan Atkinson’s photo captures its full length and demonstrates its distinctive symmetry.
Photo by Vladimir Tadic/Svjetlopis, CC BY-SA 4.0
7th place (landscapes): For some people, this is the photo of their dreams—a lonely cabin, perhaps waiting to be filled with joy and memories. This photo near Zlatibor, Serbia’s Cigota mountain peak comes from Vladimir Tadic. One judge said that it “proves that impressive landscape [photos] are not only defined by bold and explosive colors.”
Photo by Glenn Wilks, CC BY-SA 4.0
8th place (landscapes): Winter camping is one of many hobbies a person could pick up. Last year, photographer Glenn Wilks climbed into the hills of England’s Lake District to get this shivery photo of his tent and a distant peak backlit by a rising sun.
Photo by José Nuno Rosado, CC BY-SA 4.0
9th place (landscapes): Deep in southwestern Portugal, José Nuno Rosado’s visually arresting portrait of a lighthouse in Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park brought acclaim from the judges. One noted that the framing and color treatment was spot-on, and that the photo as a whole was the sort of thing they looked for when “furthering the goals and purposes of Wiki Loves Earth.”
Photo by David Egan/Davidwegan, CC BY-SA 4.0
10th place (landscapes): Canada’s Garibaldi Lake is known for its unusual turquoise color, but on this New Year’s Day you can only see ice and the snow on top of it. This photo from David Egan was called out by the contest judges for its excellent layering and the feeling of “serenity” it invoked.
Volunteer-led and organized, Wiki Loves Earth asks people to venture out into nearby natural areas. The contest’s definition of a natural area is intentionally broad, which helps ensure that anyone, anywhere, is able to participate. The photographers’ submitted work is uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, a media library that holds many of the photos used on Wikipedia. All of the content within that library is freely licensed; it can be used by anyone, for any purpose, with only a few restrictions.*
If you would like to submit your own photos for Wiki Loves Earth later this year, keep an eye on wikilovesearth.org for organizing information and dates.
Post by Ed Erhart, Communications Specialist, Wikimedia Foundation.
*Please be sure to follow each image’s copyright tag. All of the images above, for instance, are available under a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0license—you are free to share them for any reason so long as you give credit to the photographer and release any derivative images under the same copyright license.
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