The North American Nature Photography Association has revealed the winning photos for its 2026 Showcase, featuring stunning landscape images, action shots of wildlife, eye-popping macro photos, and powerful conservation work.
Best in Show Winner Michelle Valberg Explains Her Winning Photo
This year’s Best in Show Winner is Canadian photographer and Nikon Ambassador Michelle Valberg, who PetaPixel interviewed in 2023.
Valberg earned the NANPA Showcase 2026 “Best in Show” title for her incredible long-exposure black-and-white photograph, Wind & Stone. Valberg captured the stunning landscape, which also took top honors in the competition’s ‘Scapes (landscapes) category, in the iconic Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile.
“I am honored to receive the NANPA Showcase 2026 Best in Category and Show award,” Valberg tells PetaPixel. “It means more than recognition for a single photograph. It reflects the values that guide my work in the field.”
“NANPA promotes nature photography as a way to communicate, to deepen appreciation for the natural world, and to encourage environmental protection. That mission echoes everything I strive for when I step into wild places with a camera. Their commitment to education, inspiration, and opportunity mirrors the path I’ve walked throughout my career,” Valberg continues.
Valberg says she captured this photograph after finishing a week-long workshop in Patagonia that she co-led with National Geographic photographer and Canon Explorer of Light, Keith Ladzinski.
“Every day we watched the Torres del Paine breathe and shift,” Valberg recalls. “Every second reshaped this incredible scene. The wind carved its own rhythm across the sky and the clouds raced with a kind of wild grace. I was enamored by that constant change.”
When Ladzinski left after the workshop, he lent Valberg his NiSi filter kit, saying, “Use the filters, you won’t regret it.”
Valberg admits she’s never been much of a filter person and hesitated to accept them. She eventually relented and said she’d give them a try as she continued working in Patagonia.
“While creating a time lapse, I saw how quickly the clouds were moving so I grabbed the kit and used a polarizer and a 10-stop ND and gradient filter,” Valberg says. “The mountain stood firm while the sky streamed above it, around it… I wanted to reveal that feeling.”
The final “Best in Show” photo was a 30-second exposure shot at ISO 40 and f/22 on Valberg’s Nikon Z8. She used her Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S lens.
It took her a few tries to capture the exact flow and motion she wanted, but she nailed it and knew, while shooting, that this would ultimately be a black-and-white conversion.
“This scene belonged in black and white,” Valberg knew. “The language of tone and texture spoke more clearly [in black and white] than color.”
The experience also sparked a new love for filters.
“When the image appeared on the back of my camera, I felt a shift in my own approach. It reminded me that stepping outside my comfort zone can open new creative paths. Wind & Stone became the photograph that really changed my mind about filters. I am now even a NiSi Ambassador!”
“Patagonia is a magical place. It holds a gravity that pulls you in and stays with you long after you leave. I am returning with my family in December for the holidays and I can’t wait to experience this amazing place with my husband and son,” Valberg says.
The photographer will also be returning to co-lead another winter puma workshop next July and another workshop in February 2027.
“It keeps calling,” she says. “At first, I was consumed with the idea of seeing pumas. It was my dream. Within the first seconds of being in Patagonia, I felt something larger rise around me.”
Valberg loves the raw beauty of the landscapes and how the wind shapes every moment in the region. “It feels like a living canvas, always shifting, always surprising. Patagonia feeds creativity.”
For a wildlife and nature photographer like herself, Patagonia delivers a sense of scale, texture, and spirit that is often so elusive.
Wind & Stone also reflects Valberg’s broader commitment to nature.
“At the heart of my work is a desire to listen to the land and to the animals. Every photograph begins with presence, patience and respect. I try to move quietly, let the place speak, and follow the feeling rather than the expectation (not so easy to do). Wind & Stone reflects that intention. It represents the moment when nature reveals something honest and you rise to meet it with your own honesty.”
Valberg is a big believer in showcases like the one NANPA does annually, as “Photographs can educate, inspire and open doors into places many will never see in person.”
“Contests like NANPA help make that possible. They shine a light on the beauty and fragility of our natural world and invite people to step into these stories with understanding and curiosity,” Valberg explains.
“As nature photographers, we all want our images to help people feel more connected to the wild world that shapes us. I am always searching for the pulse that binds us to these places. If a photograph can stir wonder or spark a desire to protect the places we hold dear, it carries the purpose I care about most. Everyone who is part of NANPA holds that same belief and that shared commitment strengthens the work we all do,” Valberg concludes.
For photographers who would love to learn photography skills directly from Michelle Valberg, she offers wildlife photography tours and workshops. For those who cannot attend in-person workshops, Valberg also offers an online wildlife photography course alongside filmmaker Joel Haslam.
NANPA Showcase 2026 Category Winners
Alongside Valberg’s top honors, NANPA Showcase 2026 also features winners, runners-up, and judges’ choice photos across its eight categories. These 28 winning photos and two videos are featured below, organized by category.
Birds
Mammals
‘Scapes
Macro/Micro/All Other
Conservation
Altered Reality
Comedy/Humor
Video
The NANPA Showcase 2026 competition also includes Top 100 and Top 250 Showcase Winners.
Image credits: North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA). All photographers are credited in the individual image captions.
