Our original category, the winning image will be featured on the cover of the 2025 Summer Edition of Crikey! Magazine. Photographs submitted to this category had to be portrait orientated and feature an animal, photographed anywhere in the world.

Crikey! Magazine Cover – Winning Image:

Winner: Tiffany Taxis

‘Waiting on the Ice‘

Photographing this polar bear walking a bare Hudson Bay shoreline during a late freeze-up was a sobering reality. Sea ice is the bears’ hunting ground, giving them access to critical food sources. As warming delays sea ice formation, bears spend longer fasting on land. Their wait grows longer and our time to act grows shorter.

Image Location: Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
Camera: Olympus E-M1 Mark III and Olympus M.300mm F4.0

Highly Commended: Richard Button

‘The Tiny Watcher‘

Hidden among Madagascar’s leaf litter are the world’s tiniest chameleons. This Brookesia superciliaris was perfectly camouflaged. I got down to eye level and waited; with each eye constantly scanning in different directions, I was lucky to capture the fleeting moment when this little guy seemed to lock eyes with me.

Image Location: Andasibe, Moramanga, Madagascar
Camera: Sony A7rV with 90mm Macro lens

Finalist: John Peters

‘Jumper‘

This is a giant bark jumping spider. Measuring in at around 9 millimetres, they are considered “giant” when compared to other Australian native jumpers. Possessing a colour combination that mimics bark, these little jumpers blend in extremely well within their habitat, making it difficult to spot them.

Image Location: Preston, Queensland, Australia
Camera: Canon 90D with Canon 100mm f/2.8L EF Macro (with Raynox DCR-250)

Finalist: Tiffany Taxis

‘Wolf Country‘

Looking into the eyes of this wolf made me question how an animal can inspire so much fascination and yet be so deeply misunderstood. Alaskan wolves live at the intersection of marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Despite pressures from habitat change, resource extraction, and human conflict, wolves play critical roles in the ecosystems they inhabit.

Image Location: The Coast of Katmai National Park, Alaska
Camera: OM-1 Mark II with OM 150-400mm F4.5

Finalist: Julian Terreros Martin

‘Arctic Shadow‘

A dark-phase Arctic fox photographed on Iceland’s remote Hornstrandir Peninsula during the endless daylight of summer. With hungry pups nearby, these resourceful foxes explore the beaches for any opportunity to find food, making the most of whatever the harsh Icelandic landscape provides.

Image Location: Hornstrandir Peninsula, Iceland
Camera: Canon EOS R3 with Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM