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Nature doesn’t pose. It doesn’t wait for perfect light or a clean background. It moves fast, hits hard, and disappears in a blink. That’s exactly why wildlife photography feels so electric—and why the reFocus Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 (Non-Professional | Wildlife) hits different this year.
This prestigious annual competition celebrates more than just sharp focus and lucky timing. It honors patience, instinct, and the ability to read nature when it’s fully untamed. The 35 award-winning wildlife photos featured here capture wildlife in its raw, unfiltered state—moments of tension, grace, curiosity, and survival frozen in time. These aren’t zoo shots or staged scenes. They’re real encounters, earned the hard way.
At the top of this year’s winners is Mat Bell, who claimed Discovery of the Year with his unforgettable image “Penguin Pose.” The photograph captures an Adélie penguin launching itself from Antarctic waters, suspended mid-air in a near-levitational moment. Knowing these penguins can rocket nearly 10 feet out of the water makes the image even wilder—it’s a split second where physics, survival, and elegance collide.
The People’s Vote Award went to Dev Kumar for “Bornean Orangutan.” The image locks eyes with a young orangutan, curiosity written all over its face. It’s quiet, intimate, and powerful—a reminder that wildlife photography isn’t always about drama. Sometimes it’s about connection.
Beyond trophies and titles, reFocus winners gain year-round promotion and global visibility, proving that powerful storytelling doesn’t require professional status—just vision. Scroll through these images and you’ll see it clearly: nature is still wild, still unpredictable, and still absolutely worth protecting.
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#1. Discovery of the Year: "Penguin Pose" by Mat Bell
"An Adélie penguin propels itself out of Antarctic waters to the safety of an iceberg. When swimming, an Adélie penguin can accelerate enough to leap as high as 3 m (9.8 ft.) out of the water. In this moment, the penguin is captured in a levitational like state, appearing to stand to attention."
#2. Silver: "The sentinel" by Mats Carduner
"A seagull proudly overlooking the ocean in East Greenland. These seabirds’ feeding grounds and prey shift rapidly as sea ice retreats. Changes in their numbers, breeding success, and even pollutant levels in their tissues reveal how deeply human activity ripple through Arctic ecosystems."
#3. Silver: "The Crossing" by Mili L. Fitch
"In the fury of dust and water, the wild writes its oldest story — life moving forward."
#4. Silver: "Prism Break" by Scott Robert
#5. Bronze: "Looking To The Future" by Kasey Mueller
"A mother mountain gorilla cradles her newborn, their quiet bond reflecting both vulnerability and hope. As conservation efforts slowly help this endangered species recover, each new life becomes a symbol of the fragile future they fight to protect."
#6. Bronze: "Lazy leopard" by St.John Gunn
#7. Bronze: "Geladas on the "Roof of Africa"" by Turgay Uzer
"The gelada monkey is an iconic animal of Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains. They spend the night on tiny ledges on the impossibly steep cliffs of these canyons to protect themselves from leopards, and climb back on the plateau at daybreak to graze all day because this grass is not nutritious."
#8. People’s Vote Award: "Bornean Orangutan" by Dev Kumar
"This image captures the awe-inspiring moment a young Bornean orangutan stares at me curiously while I am taking the shot."
Honorable Mentions
#9. "On the lookout" by Rebecca Harvey
"Two meerkats perched atop a rock between cactus trying to figure out what this strange lady with a camera is up to.
Shot in Namibia."
#10. "Love In Wilderness" by Xuejun Long
"Travelling to Baffin Island, Canada required great determination. Beside the harsh climate and the uncertainty of encountering polar bears, capturing a polar bear mother with cubs is exceedingly difficult. The pictures were photographed in April, 2025."
#11. "Owl Taxi" by Rebecca DePorte
"A trio of shrieking grackles flew at this barred owl, trying to get it to leave its perch in the cypress tree. Anticipating the owl’s flight, I raised my camera. What I didn’t anticipate when I pressed the shutter was that a grackle would be on the owl’s back carrying an anole lizard in its beak."
#12. "The midnight beauty" by Dr Soumen Chanda
"It was taken at a water hole in southern Kenya in the midnight from a hide."
#13. "The White-backed Vulture Spreading its Wings" by Stephan Grixti
"This was shot in the US, using a zoom-lens."
#14. "The Roundest Rebel" by Leslie Robins
"In Roundest Rebel, I captured a lone Gentoo penguin leaning into the wind atop a rugged slope. I framed the scene simply, letting its determined posture and the stark Antarctic backdrop highlight the small, stubborn confidence of this unmistakable little rebel."
#15. "Journey together" by Michiko Kimura
"Two mothers and their calves pause at my hometown beach — a rare, tender moment before their long migration south."
#16. "Fish Tail" by Deborah Russell
"The salmon had yet to run but this individual coastal brown bear got lucky where a creek met the sea. Very quickly his fish of the day was demolished, with just the fishtail remaining, as something caught his eye in the distance."
#17. "Orchestra of Orcas" by Rose Van Der Zwan
"Spyhopping Orcas in the North of Norway"
#18. "A foggy brown bear" by Tore Viem
"This photo was taken in Finland in the fall of 2025. I was sitting in a photo hide, and early in the morning it appeared in the sea of fog at a distance of 3-400 meters. I had to focus manually to get it in focus."
#19. "Stoic Composure" by Bin Wang
#20. "Giving His All" by Thomas DeLiberto
"Earlier this year I was fortunate to visit a greater sage-grouse lek, an area in which the birds congregate to mate. I photographed this male midway through his song and dance as his air sacs were completely filled, and just prior to thrusting his head upward to produce his burbling sound."
#21. "Flower Child" by Nate Solo
"The Atlantic Puffin is much smaller than you imagine. The flowers here do a great job of showing us exactly how small they are. Despite their size, they have huge personalities and a reputation the has permeated cultures across the world."
#22. "Arguments" by A. Pires
"Buff-tailed Coronets are quite territorial & heavily defend their favorite perches against rivals & even other birds. While attacking their competitors you can hear their squeaky sounds. I wish I could understand what was being said when I took the picture. Picture location: Cloud Forests of Ecuador"
#23. "El guardián del musgo" by Alvaro Mancilla Melo
"Costa Rica. After rain, the forest hushed. From the moss, a green face with red beacons: the red-eyed tree frog, sentinel of healthy jungle. At 146 mm, 1/100 s, f/11, in soft post-rain light, I shot without flash. If he’s here, the forest still breathes."
#24. "A Promise in the Air" by Amit Joshi
"In a flash of iridescent blue and orange, a male common kingfisher performs a courtship chase, pursuing a female perched on a branch. As he flies, he calls loudly to her, a vital part of the ritual that precedes."
#25. "In the deep shade" by Boris Droutman
"Sunbittern flyby in Pantanal"
#26. "Hands Down" by Deborah Russell
"A brown bear on the mud flats inspects the fruits of its labour. With an incredible sense of smell, the bears locate the razor clams buried in the mud below and with powerful paws, dig the clams up . Bears have incredible dexterity, prising open the shells to access its nutrious contents."
#27. "Cuteness Quotient 100 Out of 100" by Anil Kumar
"Its not easy to get these Red Panda, you need to trek on steep slopes of the thick forest with bamboo undergrowth. Weather plays spoil-sport. I was lucky enough to get this portrait shot of a cute Red Panda aka Fire-Fox in Singalila National Park, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India."
#28. "Panthera Tigris" by Abdul Kader Kagalwala
"Royal Bengal tiger portrait"
#29. "Mother’s Love" by Bin Wang
#30. "Walking on Water" by Jack James
"We left Lake Nakuru, Tanzania a bit disappointed after our Flamingo search had failed but gave it another go by waking up early and waiting quietly by the Lake. Then a solo bird landed through the mist with a dramatic hop, skip, and a comical walk across the water."
#31. "Living that lone wolf life" by V Shiung Hiew
"Proud member of the pack of one"
#32. "Arctic tern attack !!!" by Ricardo Tormo
"Svalbaard"
#33. "Surprise Encounter" by Shawn Thomas
"Two sandhill cranes fly past a full moon far from where they natively live."
#34. "Caiman Tears" by Rebecca DePorte
"The butterfly is drinking the caiman’s tears to get vital nutrients, especially salt, that it needs to survive."
#35. "Star Appeal" by A. Pires
"I call him Elvis…this Green-billed Toucan posed like a super star for me. Picture taken in the wild, Tapirai, Sao Paulo State Brazil"
In Summary
What is the reFocus Photographer of the Year?
- An annual international photography competition celebrating outstanding visual storytelling across genres.
Which category is featured here?
- The 2025 Non-Professional Wildlife category.
Who won Discovery of the Year?
- Mat Bell for his photograph “Penguin Pose.”
Who won the People’s Vote Award?
- Dev Kumar for “Bornean Orangutan.”
Why are these photos important?
- They document real wildlife moments and highlight emerging photographic talent worldwide.
English (US) ·