The judges were particularly impressed with Sandip Guha's gorgeous image of two courting crab spiders in Siliguri, West Bengal, and Caroline English's powerful shot of a cheetah after a kill.
Meanwhile, the overall first prize was awarded to London-based Capri McPherson-Noel for her portrait ‘Sunkissed Boy'.
“I wanted to create the connection between humans and nature," says McPherson-Noel. "The way the sunlight bounces off the sunflowers for growth is similar to the way the sun beams off the model’s skin tone. As humans, we gain energy from the sun, just as the flowers do.”
LCE Photographer of the Year 2025 winners
Season of Love: Macro photography is all about extreme close-ups, often featuring tiny subjects like insects, where the subject appears larger than life. It also captures non-organic objects, revealing intricate details that are often invisible to the naked eye, showcasing the beauty of both nature and man-made creations. A macro lens is a key tool for achieving these stunning shots. Macro winner/Sandip Guha, LCE POTYMundaari Women: The women are an essential part of running a Mundari cattle camp. Here they are going about their early morning chores before heading off to the river to collect water. The atmosphere in the image is caused by smoke and dust. Travel winner/Lynn Fraser, LCE POTYClash of Instincts: The image captures a poignant moment as a kestrel feeds its chick, showcasing a balance between tenderness and strength. It highlights maternal instinct and the predator’s role in sustaining the ecosystem, emphasising the cycle of life and the importance of preserving nature’s balance for future. Through this image, I aim to showcase the harmony of nature and the vital role each creature plays in maintaining balance for future generations. Birds runner-up/Sherif Abdallah, LCE POTYSunkissed Boy: I wanted to create the connection between humans and nature. The way the sunlight beams off the sunflowers for growth, is the way the sun beams off his skin tone. As humans we gain energy from sun just as the flowers do. Portrait winner & overall winner/Capri Mcpherson-Noel, LCE POTYAfter the Kill: We tracked 11-year-old twin cheetah brothers in Botswana. In the morning the weaker hunter of the two failed to catch an impala. Later that same day, his brother, the stronger hunter, made no such mistake - the hanging droplet of blood symbolising the face of the victorious predator. The image was taken very late in the day, and the light was fading fast. Wildlife winner/English Caroline, LCE POTYStanding Out From The Crowd: This beautiful flock of Flamingos were all huddled together sleeping. I searched through the group to see if I could find one with their head up against a sea of ‘heads down’. This stunning bird lifted his head to groom and I got the shoot. I knew as soon as I took it, it would be special. Capturing the picture was quite easy as it was great photography weather - it was winter, so soft light. It just needed some patience. I processed it through Photoshop, using all the usual sliders, heal brush for bits and a light gradient layer to really bring out the subject from the rest. Birds runner-up/Melanie Sharp, LCE POTYAurora at Tungeneset: A wonderful aurora glowing over an ice pool Tungeneset with the Devil’s Teeth mountains in the background. This is a vertorama of two shots to capture the sky and the foreground details. Travel runner-up/Jennifer Rogers, LCE POTYA Lonely Pair: On a clear day on the Antarctic Peninsula, a couple of Gentoo penguins waddle across a snowy penguin ‘highway’ to their rocky nest. The contrast-less snow hill where I saw this little pair made for a unique shot of Gentoo penguins that are otherwise often found in large colonies. This was one of the few times I saw a pair of Gentoos away from the rest of the colony. It highlighted to me the teamwork that’s required to survive in this harsh landscape, both for them and their chicks. Wildlife runner-up/Dylan Shaw, LCE POTYApple: Badger with juicy red apple. Hundreds of hours watching Badgers with a bonus 3 seconds. Wildlife runner-up/Stuart Pevy Apple, LCE POTYBacklit Cuckoo: I knew of a place that a cuckoo sometimes landed, so set up camera on a tripod with sun facing the camera to get a backlit shot. I used a remote control on camera so I didn’t shake the camera when taking this shot. Then I sat back and waited , I did this a lot of times before getting this result. Birds winner/Colin Vanner, LCE POTYOn the Lookout: A group of cats taken at a farm in Romania. I had a very short window to take this long distance, handheld, night shot when walking past a farm in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. Pets runner-up/Kevin Pamphlion, LCE POTYSeaweed: Taken close to high tide at Marloes Sands, Pembrokeshire, this bladderwrack seaweed was glistening and draped over a rock. I was struck by its metallic sheen and perfect oval vesicles, and immediately visualised it as a black and white image, enabling me to purely focus on these striking features. Macro runner-up/Julie Spokes, LCE POTYFrosty Daisy Macro Stack: 38 image macro stack taken on a tripod during a frosty day last November. The stacking was completed using Helicon Focus and then some minor adjustments were made in Lightroom. Macro runner-up/James Clarke, LCE POTYOn Reflection its an Egret: I photographed this unusual visitor to the North of Scotland on a beautiful calm sunny morning. These birds are very nervous and once it thought I was getting to close to it, the Egret took off and I was lucky enough to capture this shot. People's Choice runner-up/Alan McGee, LCE POTY
