The Scottish Nature Photography Awards announced the winners of its 2025 competition, celebrating the best and most beautiful nature, wildlife, and landscape photos captured in Scotland.
Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year 2025
This year’s Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year is Toby Houlton from Invergordon, a small Scottish port town.
Houlton took top honors for his photo, “Dance of the Giants,” a captivating long exposure photo of “dancing” gnats taken in the late afternoon. Houlton’s photo also won the Wildlife Behavior category.
“My winning image was taken at Little Garve in Ross-shire. I had been walking back beside the river in the late afternoon, and there, in patches of dappled sun, the gnats were ‘dancing,’” Houlton explains. “A moment of inspiration made me realize that taking an image with a slow shutter speed would create the amazing light trails, and the hint of the darker woodland behind would provide the sense of place. The speed of these tiny dancers meant that multiple wingbeats were captured in the exposure, creating the patterns.”
Competition judge Niall Irvine adds: “It takes the viewer a little time to work out what they are looking at in this image, but it is so rewarding! The highlighted patterns created by the movement of the gnats, captured by the creative use of photographic technique, and the subtle woodland textures in the background give the image of these tiny creatures drama and impact.”
Junior Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year
For the second straight year, young Scottish photographer Kiran Simpson was named Scottish Junior Nature Photographer of the Year. The now-14-year-old photographer from Dunfermline won the title for his spider photo, “The Leaf Eater.”
“Right outside my kitchen door, under the glow of the outdoor light, I spotted this garden spider on its web, with a leaf caught in the silk beside it. Against the darkness of the night, the patterns on its body and its spiny legs stood out in incredible detail,” says the up-and-coming shutterbug.
“I ran inside to grab my camera, knowing it might be gone by the time I got back. What I love most about this photo is that it was taken literally steps from my back door. It just goes to show that you don’t need to travel far to find incredible wildlife; it’s all around us if you just stop and look.”
Judge Michael Prince called it a “striking macro photo.”
“It was wonderful to see such a technically challenging photographic technique used so effectively to reveal the usually unnoticed life of a spider,” Prince says.
Student Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year
University student Rob Henderson won the title of Student Scottish Photographer of the Year 2025 for his portfolio, “In the Time Between.” Henderson, who studies MA Geography at the University of Glasgow, has heavily used photography in his dissertation and coursework.
“I was interested in capturing the contrast between the brief, seasonal presence of the lilies and the endurance of the pines through the yearly cycles. As both a geographer and photographer, I am drawn to the way landscapes can express change and time,” Henderson says.
Category Winners
Alongside the primary awards above, photographers in the Scottish Nature Photography Awards also competed across eight primary categories and two special categories for children and students. There is also a Scottish Nature Video Award, which James Appleton won for a powerful video showing the Stac Pallaidh Wildfire. Appleton’s winning video, alongside the second- and third-place videos, can be watched on the Scottish Nature Photography Awards website. The photo category winners, alongside runners up and third-place finishers, are featured below.
Environmental
Natural Abstract
Scottish Botanical
Scottish Landscape — The Land
Scottish Landscape — Sea and Coast
Scottish Landscape — Urban Greenspace
Scottish Wildlife Behavior
Scottish Wildlife Portrait
Junior Category
Kiran Simpson also earned second place in the Junior Category for the excellent bird photo below.
Student Category
Alona Perliarska, a Fine Art student from UHI Orkney, earned second place in the Student Category. Photography student Paula Adam from West College Scotland rounded out the category.
More From the Scottish Nature Photography Awards
The winning photos from the 2025 Scottish Nature Photography Awards will be included in a portfolio yearbook and featured as part of a traveling exhibition tour. All the winning and shortlisted photographers can be viewed on the competition’s website.
