Nature photography contests are alive and well all around the world, and for good reason. Our planet has so much incredible biodiversity, and photographers are giving us a glimpse of things (and perspectives) we’ve not yet seen.

Below are some of this years winners of the 2025 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year awards.

“Inside-out view of a cauliflower soft coral. Named for its characteristic appearance that resembles a cauliflower, with numerous small, rounded, bump-like polyps that give it a puffy texture.

This unique perspective was made possible by the Nauticam EMWL, an underwater version of the probe or insect eye lens.”

“Loinnekumme Country, Southwest National Park, Tasmania

An amphitheatre of pandani watch on as the galactic core, swathed in airglow, rises over an alpine lake, nestled in a rugged Tassie mountain range.

Lady Aurora dances under the Magellanic Clouds. This image was captured on a crisp night in one of Tasmania’s more rugged and majestic multi-day walks.”

“Common garden skink (Lampropholis guichenoti)
Gadigal Country, Sydney, New South Wales

Discovered in a brick wall at home, a small garden skink was trapped in a hole. I felt helpless as the lizard thrashed its body from side to side in an attempt to escape. Thankfully, it was eventually able to get itself free.”

Think glow sticks, but living. That’s the idea behind this innovation/discovery made in China.

Glowing leaves in hues of red, blue, and orange. It sounds like a scene from science fiction, but it’s actually here, thanks to a remarkable breakthrough in China.

Scientists have created succulents that glow in the dark after soaking up sunlight. Using tiny phosphor particles, the same materials that make glow-in-the-dark toys shine, they’ve managed to turn ordinary plants into natural lanterns.

If you imagine this technology evolving, could we have lighted paths made from nothing but plants? Could trees become natural streetlights?

Who said paintings can’t also be sculptures?

Artist Timur Zagirov knows a thing or two about sawing wood. 

Indeed, he has created a beautiful rendition of Van Gogh’s famous self portrait, using a myriad of colored wooden blocks. 425 polished pine cubes, to be precise.

Viewed from a distance, the mosaic has an uncanny resemblance to the Dutch painter’s work.