Winning the Intimate Landscape Category: Jurassic World at the Natural Landscape Photography Awards 2025

Jurassic World - Winner of the Intimate Landscape category of the Natural Landscape Photography Awards 2025

Back in September, I received some incredible news* — my image Jurassic World won the Intimate Landscape category in the Natural Landscape Photography Awards. It’s without doubt my proudest photography achievement so far, so I thought I’d share a little of the story behind it.

*You could remove the 'incredible' and you'd probably be about right!

Why the NLPA Matters to Me

Of all the photography competitions, the Natural Landscape Photography awards was the one I had been most interested in entering - partly because of its ethos and what it stands for (minimal editing - true reflections of the scene in front of you), but also because I enjoyed the way the winning images were presented and appreciated the detail in the write ups of the photographers, many of whom I had gone on to follow and admire through their social media or websites.

Learn more about the Natural Landscape Photography Awards here: https://naturallandscapeawards.com

Building the Entry (and Nearly Missing the Winner!)

This year, I finally felt ready to give it a real go. Cue me rummaging through my very disorganised Lightroom catalogue to build a shortlist of potential entries. I had to discard a surprising number of photographs due to my fondness for cropping out the odd distracting branch from woodland scenes – not quite in the spirit of the NLPA!

Eventually I arrived at about 12 images I thought were worth considering. Interestingly… Jurassic World wasn’t one of them. I processed and then re-edited them all (to ensure I hadn't accidentally cropped anything in my original edit), named them and ensured they were all prepared to meet the competition guidelines, and this time, I also printed them using my Canon Pro-300 to make sure I hadn't overlooked anything on the computer screen.

My main focus was actually the Project category, where I submitted a series of eight photographs featuring twisty oak trees from across the South West.

I also entered six images into the individual categories — including three bluebell scenes which were my own personal favourites that I thought/hoped would be the most successful. I later added Jurassic World after receiving encouraging feedback on social media, including from some of the judges!

In the end, all my images progressed through the first rounds of judging, except two of the bluebell photo's!

What I Learned About Competitions

From the competitions I’ve entered so far, one thing stands out: my favourites rarely do best. I still find it difficult to curate my own work because the experience of taking a photo can give it emotional weight that others simply won’t feel. Detaching from that is definitely something I need to improve at.

One big takeaway — no more bluebells! They may be beloved by some (me!), but they’re disliked by many, which makes it hard to score consistently across multiple judges.

With my project, while I still love the theme, I can now see that the images looked a bit too similar when viewed as a collection. Some variety — abstracts, tighter details, different focal lengths — might give the portfolio more personality next time.

The Feedback & Final Result

One thing I really appreciate about the NLPA is the feedback they provide. Beyond Jurassic World, I certainly wasn’t pulling up trees (*_*) with my other entries — but seeing scoring from judges is incredibly helpful for growth.

From the feedback on the winning photo, it seems a couple of the judges (thank you Judge 2 and 5!) really championed it through to the final. At that point, fortune was clearly on my side — despite the protestations of Judge 4!

Has Winning Changed Anything?

Honestly? Day-to-day life hasn’t changed a bit — aside from a frantic week on social media! If you’re hoping a competition win leads instantly to fame, fortune and brand collaborations, I’m here to reassure you it doesn’t… at least not for me.

What it has given me is something far better (hmmmm) :A genuine sense of pride — mixed with the usual imposter syndrome for flavour.

I feel very privileged to have been part of the winners’ Zoom call when results were announced. Seeing the quality of the images and the people behind them was inspiring, and watching Joy Kachina’s reaction to being named Photographer of the Year was a real highlight.

What’s Next?

I’m excited to see the NLPA book, where the awarded images will be published. I’ve been hugely impressed with how smoothly the organisers (especially Tim Parkin) have run things — communication has been excellent throughout.

I’ve since entered different images into the International Landscape Photographer of the year awards… so we’ll soon find out if this was a glorious one-off or if lightning can strike twice. I have a suspicion I know the answer already — but we’ll see!

Other than that it'll be business as usual - the odd blog, the occasional burst of inspiration leading to an update of the website, before the next phase of 'meh' from the lack of actual engagement and interaction... Sweet sweet anonymity!