Nature’s Best Photography Highly Honoured Finalist
I’m thrilled and honoured to share that my image of a matriarch leading her family across the Amboseli Plain has been selected as a Highly Honored Finalist in the Wildlife Category of Nature’s Best Photography International Awards. I was delighted to learn the image will also be featured on the back cover of Nature’s Best’s Winter Special 30thAnniversary Edition of their magazine available this December.
The Wisdom of Elephants ©kathykarn
Fujj X-T3 100-400mm f/4.5 - 5.6 R LM OIS WR lens +1.4 converter at 140mm; 1/1000 sec; at f/9.0; ISO 800 Handheld
Congratulations for being selected as a Highly Honored Finalist in the Nature’s Best Photograph International Awards competition! Out of more than 20,000 entries received from photographers around the globe, we were impressed by your images and the stories behind the shots. Your work will appear in the 2025 Winter Special 30th Anniversary Edition of Nature’s Best Photography magazine, due to be available in December.
The story behind the shot: After the death of my mother in 2019, longing for respite and spiritual renewal, I went on a solo pilgrimage to Kenya to photograph the elephants of Amboseli. What began as a photographic safari unfolded as an exploration of grief and loss, love and healing. In the vast expanse of the Amboseli Plain hundreds of elephants marched in an endless procession towards me like mourners to the bereaved.
Waiting for the elephants Photo credit Julius Pilipili Memusi
As I lay on the floor of the truck to capture the scene from a low angle, a matriarch and I locked eyes, her steady gaze conveyed a profound sense of wisdom and serenity. She came so close I thought she would touch me with her trunk. The exhilaration of sharing such intimate space with these remarkable animals is a memory I will cherish forever.
She came so close I thought she would touch me ©kathykarn
I returned home changed, renewed, and committed to sharing the urgent message about the threat to elephants and their environment. The image reminds me of the magic of an extraordinary moment, the steadfastness of matriarchal leadership, and the powerful reminder that we are all connected. A world without elephants is unimaginable. When we save nature, we save ourselves.
Press Release: 2025 Nature’s Best Photography International Awards
Washington, DC, October 2025: Building upon the 30-year success of the prestigious international photo awards competition, Nature’s Best Photography (NBP) is proud to celebrate the 2025 winning images by photographers of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience. Out of more than 20,000 amazing submissions from dedicated nature and wildlife photographers in 62 countries, our esteemed Judges, along with editors, advisors, and quality control specialists, chose nearly 2,000 photos for the semi-final round of judging. After an extensive review of the high-resolution and uncorrected raw files, along with the wonderful stories behind the shots and extensive data research, a group of Top 100 finalists was chosen.
The Grand Prize, Youth Photographer of the Year, Category Winners, and Highly Honored images and videos appear on the NBP website at naturesbestphotography.org/winners2025 and will be published in the 2025 Special 30th Anniversary Awards Edi9on of Nature’s Best Photography magazine available at naturesbestphotography.org/subscribe. Winners will also be displayed on social media at facebook.com/naturesbestphotography.org and instagram.com/naturesbestphotomagazine.
In line with Nature’s Best’s mission to display the beauty, diversity, and importance of nature, our goals are to attract and help support photographers around the globe, while encouraging them to become advocates for wildlife conserva9on awareness.
Nature’s Best Photography co-founder and President, Stephen Freligh, says,
“The past 30 years at Nature’s Best Photography have revealed moments in the wild that present the unique, creative, and documentary talents of professional, amateur, and youth photographers alike. Their extraordinary memories are our new, defining discoveries, and their stories from the field are our ever-changing window into the natural world.”
See the complete collection of Winners and Top 100 finalists in the NBP Awards Gallery
Learn more about NBP at naturesbestphotography.org
©kathykarn
This winning image is available in black and white in my online Gallery. A percentage of all sales and Substack subscriptions supports wildlife and conservation in Kenya.
