My Favorite Nature & Landscape Photos of 2025

Happy belated New Year and Merry Christmas! 2025 was an eventful year in nature photography, with several anomalous phenomena and events that exploded with greater vibrancy than normal. For starters, I’ve been able to comfortably walk around in short sleeves all winter, but that’s off topic. The solar maximum of 2024/25 kept the sun very active. In November, it violently ejected charged particles that collided with Earth, making the Aurora Borealis visible as far south as Mexico. Fall colors in the Rocky Mountains were particularly bold, as well as the alpine wildflowers in summer. I got to witness a so-called irruption of Great Gary Owls in Minnesota’s Sax Zim Bog in January, when large owl concentration converged on the area. I also captured a colorful variety of songbirds in my backyard, many of which I’ve never seen there before. Admittedly, I wanted to limit this post to about 20 or so images, but I failed hard. Because photos speak louder than words, here we go…

These photos can be ordered as high-resolution prints here.

Imagine this scene in summer, where all the vegetation is uniformly green, blending into an indistinct mass. But autumn neatly stratifies the forest’s layers into distinct bands of decadent color.

You have to wait for the clouds! Near Crested Butte, CO.

The ambience of this scene, near Ouray, was thick enough to feel. The crisp air was saturated with the pungent aroma of fallen leaves while drizzle softly pelted my face.

Silverton, CO.

Telluride, CO.

I actually shot this scene 2 years ago before this lake was drained, but just processed it in 2025 so it counts for this list!

Oh yeah…is there anything more enchanting than photographing the night sky? Alien Throne, NM.

Chaco Canyon Milky Way.

In anticipation of the solar maximum, I had this spot in Fort Collins scoped out for a few years for its reflection in case an Aurora materialized. Luckily, there was no wind when the lights fatefully appeared on this November evening.

Later the same night, after I though the show was over, I arrived home to this most splendid Aurora in my backyard.

Southeast Arizona is a pilgrimage for photographing the greatest diversity of hummingbirds in the US.

 

To capture Great Gray Owls in flight, you have to hold your camera continuously on the bird until it launches into the air, which requires precautions against getting frostbite on your fingers.

Northern Hawk Owl

Blue Tit near Stuttgart, Germany.

Bullock’s Oriole in my backyard.

A rare glimpse of a Cooper’s Hawk on the ground and its haunting red eyes.

Eurasian Kestrel on the wing.

The reflection of a thirsty European Goldfinch.

Eurasian Wren

A steller’s Jay with his crest ruffled in strong wind.

A Yellow Warbler grocery shopping.

Eurasian Green Woodpecker.

 

Spotted Towhee in my backyard.

While this might not be a magazine cover. I was thrilled to spot bobcats in my very own backyard and to capture this fleeting shot.

Alpine Sunflower near Telluride. Standing on a mountain, surrounded by sprawling wildflowers beneath the summer sun was Heaven on Earth.

If I didn’t live in Colorado, I’d probably live in Tucson. The Sonoran Desert provides endless subject matter in all directions without having to go far.

Cumulus clouds over Sedona.

Rayleigh scattering makes Arizona’s sunsets particularly gorgeous.

Agave make all landscapes better!

European Ibex in a rain shower in the Bavarian Alps.

A common wall lizard in a forest near Stuttgart, Germany. This is a very small lizard, but I used a 15mm wide-angle macro lens to accentuate its size while capturing the background.

Green Lizard yawning.

I went snorkeling in a chilly alpine lake where thousands of  neotentic western tiger salamanders permanently dwell in the water without metamorphosing.

A medieval bridge in what looks like the Shire in Germany.

The Bavarian Alps.

A fire salamander in the early springtime forest in Germany.

Wildflowers season above 12,000 ft.

A well-known shot-Dream Lake in RMNP in early fall.