The Exposure One Awards Just Announced Their Black & White Nature Photo Contest Winners (49 Pics)

Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

Description: "The ox pecker was coming in land and I wanted to capture him in motion. It wasn't until later that I noticed the scar down the giraffe's eye."

Nominee in the Animals category at the Professional level.

Gold Award in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: Thick fur hides claws and power. The bear’s paws show both strength and comfort, made to endure the endless winter.

Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category and the Animals Category.

Description: This series shows jellyfish glowing softly in darkness, their bells like lanterns and tentacles trailing like delicate strokes. Without color, they become pure form and motion, drifting like living shadows. Each image reveals quiet grace—slow pulses of light and gentle, weightless movement.

Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Nominee in the Wild Portraits category at the Non-Professional level.
Nominee in the Minimalism category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: Shot at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park, New Jersey

Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

Description: Cheetah cubs, snuggling on their mom in a rain storm notice something flying overhead. They are alert to all dangers, especially in the rain as it dampens sounds. Mom is relaxed, but she know aerial battles are not of concern to the small family.

Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Nominee in the Lights & Shadow category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: "The calm face of the animal, sharing the present peacefulness, the rust in the eye of the horse."

Honorable Mention in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Nominee in the Wild Portraits category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: "This voracious wild predator meticulously cleans up after a meal. The back and white rendering with steely texture articulates the power of the Praying Mantis. A bokeh halo completes the composition."

Nominee in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

"An elk and her yearlings ford a rocky mountain river as the morning fog burns off. The current was so placid, it neither impeded their crossing nor concealed the sloshing of their steady march to the far bank."

2nd Place, Overall Contest.
Silver Award in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

Description: A young male lion steps through a cloud of dust lifted by his own movement and caught in the back light. The night around him stays silent, but the glow reveals every contour of rising strength. A rare, intimate moment from the waterhole here in the Shompole Conservancy, southern Kenya.

Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level. Description: A lone polar bear rests on a barren Arctic shore, its white fur glowing softly against the dark stones. In the stillness, there’s both peace and fragility, a quiet reminder of life enduring at the edge of a frozen world.

Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.

1st Place, Overall Contest Winner.
Silver Award, Abstract Category.
Honorable Mention, Animals Category.

Bronze Award in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Honorable Mention in the Ocean category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: A large humpback whale had just breached. Just as a whale behind it started to tail slap. Making it look like this was just one big tailslap.

Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: Manitoban Elk during a cold and frosty morning in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S.A)

Nominee in the Animals category at Professional level.

Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Honorable Mention in the Wild Portraits category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: Baby bear looks up at Mom with such deep respect at Katmai National Park.

Honorable Mention in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: "He rules the silence of the jungle — unseen, unwavering, untamed."

Bronze Award, Animals Category.
Nominee, Wild Portraits Category.
Nominee, Light & Shadow Category.

Description: A striking black and white portrait of a falcon, symbolizing power and grace. The sharp contrast of light and shadow highlights every feather detail, capturing the bird’s regal presence and untamed spirit.

Honorable Mention, Animals Category.
Nominee, Light & Shadow Category.

Description: "High in the Wyoming Rockies, a grizzly bear sow and her cub cross a mountain river. It was a cool morning, and thick fog hung overhead as steam rose from the river, creating an ethereal scene around one of nature's most respected predators."

Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

Description: "When an egret was fishing, it happened to encounter a silver carp rushing out of the sea. One of the egret's feet pressed the silver carp under its feet, like an egret playing skateboarding in the air."

Nominee in the Animals category at the Professional level.

Honorable Mention, Wild Portraits Category
Nominee, Animals Category.

Description: Adult hippo strikes a menacing pose, as if to say don't even think about coming any closer. Photographed in the Northern Kruger, South Africa.

Nominee in the Animals category.

Description: "Freedom at its finest. The white horses of Camargue, free, galloping in the wilderness. The Guardians, showing the care and the love that humans have for horses for centuries and generations in this region. A dance to witness. Complicity, Tenderness and Rawness."

Nominee in the Animals category.

Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: Horns clash and rocks fly as two bighorn rams battle for dominance.

Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: In the last light of day, a backlit Brown Bear shakes his wet coat. He was foraging for salmon in a nearby creek and had just emerged onto land.

Honorable Mention in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.
Nominee in the Wild Portraits category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: "This two year old was following mom fishing in Alaska, when it decided to take a little rest. We were supposed to have left that day but the weather was too windy, and as a result I got the chance to photograph mom and baby. This is the photo I had hoped to get and felt that B&W was best."

Honorable Mention in the Animals Category.

Description: Frozen for more than 30 million years, Antarctica is the coldest place on our planet. Antarctica plays a major role in regulating the climate of the entire planet. Less than 1% of Antarctica is not covered in ice. These rocky formations are the only places where penguins can lay their eggs.

Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

Description: A pod a spinner dolphins surfaces and dives off the coast of west Oahu, HI.

Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

Nominee in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

Description: Photographs of elephants made in Amboseli (Kenya) as part of a long project in support of this ecosystem and the maasai community in Africa, driving to the publication of the book "The Giants Whisper"

1st Place winning image at the Non-Professional Level ⁠.

While siblings nurse below, one kit fox pup demands attention the only way he knows how - by gently biting mom's face. The tender chaos of motherhood captured in a single frame. Even in the wild, kids compete for affection, and sometimes getting noticed means being a little bit bold.
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Gold Award in the Animals category at the Professional level.

Silver Award in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.

Silver Award in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.

Description: "This look. This expression. This confidence and showing of power. He looks like the real king of the plains. What a fantastic sighting. I'm still getting goosebumps watching him. One of the male lions of the pride that resides around the Mara Bush Camp."

Bronze Award in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.

Bronze Award, Wild Portraits Category.
Honorable Mention, Animals Category.

Description: An eagle soars among the mountain peaks of Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.

Nominee in the Animals category at the Professional level.

Desription: "Taken in the Masai Mara in the heat of the day. I had put my camera away but as we headed back to camp we saw this sight and I just had to capture it. The tree is such an iconic symbol of the plains and with the giraffe reaching up I managed to capture the image that I saw."

Honorable Mention, Animals Category.
Nominee, Wild Portraits Category.

Description: Alaska's Bear Coast stretches hundreds of miles and boasts some of the best brown bear habitat on earth. This massive boar was the largest and most dominant on his stretch of coast, and in this image, he is seen eyeing a sow, a potential mate, that might allow his dominant bloodline to continue.

Honorable Mention in the Animals Category.

Description: An Alpha Lion patrolling at night.

Nominee in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

Nominee in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

Nominee in the Animals Category at the Professional level.

Description: A crush of thousands of Wildebeest at the Mara River, Tanzania

Honorable Mention, Earth’s Textures Category.
Nominee, Animals Category.

Description: A black and white portrait of a chameleon clinging to a branch. The fine textures of its skin and the dramatic play of light and shadow reveal nature’s intricate design and the quiet resilience of wildlife.

Nominee in the Animals category at the Professional level.

Description: Snow Monkey, Nagano, Japan.

Nominee in the Animals category at the Non-Professional level.

Bronze Award in the Animals category at the Professional level.

Description: "I collect and photograph the skulls of Japanese deer. It is difficult to understand the individuality of each animal. However, when they die and only the bones remain, their individuality becomes clear."