At the Kuusamo Nature Photo XXX anniversary event, there were four competition categories: the Instagram Reels category with the theme The Next Wilderness , Category Youth and the legendary categories Art of Nature and Hannu Hautala .
The jury for the Hannu Hautala and Art of Nature categories was chaired by Jonna Kalliomäki, with Paavo Hamunen and Mika Honkalinna as permanent judges. Guest judge was Mia Surakka. Here is how the jury described this year’s competition:
“As in previous years, the competition level remained delightfully high! The distribution of themes among the competition photos had not changed significantly. In the Hannu Hautala category, animals—especially birds and mammals—formed the majority of the subjects. In the Art of Nature category, as in earlier competitions, there was more variety in subjects, and the possibilities of digital cameras had been used in a versatile way. To reach the prize-winning positions, a photo essentially had to receive high scores from all four judges, and the jury’s decisions were quite unanimous. There was more discussion regarding the images awarded honorable mentions. Among the winners and honorable mentions were both familiar names from previous years, but pleasingly also completely new ones.”
The Category Youth joined the competition in a renewed form: organized by the Hannu Hautala Foundation, it was no longer held on Instagram. Instead, photos were submitted by email. The winners were selected by a jury consisting of chair Kaisa Siren, Ari-Matti Nikula, and Petteri Törmänen.
Here is how jury commented on the contest:
“The level of the competition was diverse and multifaceted. Some photographs clearly stood out as the young participants’ own observations and insights, which delighted us as judges. We would like to encourage all photographers, especially beginners, to find their own treasures and perspectives, their own moments in nature. In general, we would also note that in many cases, more advanced image editing could have brought additional depth, brightness, and atmosphere to the photos. As judges, we would like to encourage participants to make more precise selections for their competition entries. This year, some photographers submitted several very similar images of the same subject, as if they could not decide which was best. This is something all of us as photographers can pay more attention to—making bold decisions and choices.”
Explore the award-winning photos from the competition via the button below.
Winners 2025