The Greatest Wildlife Photographer – Kenya competition has unveiled its September 2025 finalists, spotlighting striking images of Kenya’s biodiversity while raising funds for conservation organisations.
Proceeds from the initiative support key conservation partners including the Elephant Queen Trust, Ewaso Lions, Grevy’s Zebra Trust, Kenya Bird of Prey Trust, Mara Elephant Project and the Pangolin Project.
The competition continues monthly, offering a platform for amateur and professional photographers to contribute to wildlife protection through visual storytelling.
Here are the finalists for September 2025:
“A newborn elephant, with her umbilicus still attached, was strutting to keep up with her mother and family. She was tiny but had a look of determination in her eyes. The challenge in getting the shot was isolating her from the rest of the elephants to get a clean image of her. In this way you can appreciate her small size in relation to the grown elephants. Her tiny trunk grazes her mother’s leg. I hope to convey the circle of life and the adorable quality of very young elephants, their sturdiness and their spirit.”
“A tightly gathered herd of elephants stand on the plain in Amboseli National Park, moving together under the watch of their matriarch. A few cattle egrets perch on their backs and walk at their feet – a familiar presence alongside the herd. Above them, a sky filled with clouds provides a dramatic backdrop that frames the elephants on the open savannah. I got as low as I could in the vehicle to help reveal the stature of the elephants and I picked a moment when several members of the herd were looking in my general direction. I decided to develop this as a black-and-white image to emphasise the elephants and the texture of the cloudy sky.”
“We started out watching two male lions as they rested in the grass. They were beautiful boys but the scene was static. As we waited though, one by one, three other male lions came in to join them. Their greetings were such a special and heartwarming sight! I first photographed images of all five lions using a 70-200mm lens but the images showed too much grass and sky. So I switched over to my 400mm with teleconverter to capture tight images that conveyed a more impactful emotion between two of the males as they moved together in sync. I felt the close-ups were more successful for not only showing the emotion but also eliminating the grassy background during mid-daylight. Conversion to black and white was a given although I also like it in colour. I hope the viewer can feel the motion in their bodies and manes, and understand the closeness that these two brothers felt for each other.”
“Unusually, the lake was full and the flamingos still abundant. As we crossed by at sunrise, this lone flamingo pretended and moved as if dancing to its own tune at one with its world. The scene was peaceful and serene. The beautiful early morning light added to the alluring scene.”
“Long rains and long grass shrouded the wildlife in Amboseli. The lake was full. The birds abundant. In the distance, as we drove around the park, I spotted this gazelle. Stood in solitude and watching quietly as we passed. We reversed and stopped to observe it. Still as a statue, it remained vigilant, poised and graceful. My hope with this image is that a viewer will always think to look around and appreciate the raw beauty of the natural world and all the animals – not just the Big Five.”
“We spent the night waiting for animals to come to the waterhole. It was beyond thrilling when a lion pride came to drink. This was a challenging photo given the high ISO and low shutter speed but, fortunately, I was able to rest the camera on a beanbag and wait for a moment when the lions were relatively still.”
“In the early morning light, we found this playful lion pride. The grass was still wet and the light golden. They let us watch this playful moment with no tension of danger or hunger. Just a moment of serenity from the top predator in the savannah.”
“A few giraffes came cautiously down to the waterhole to drink. This young reticulated giraffe was at the far end of the pond and I could see him spread his legs to allow his mouth to find the small pool that formed at the edge of the hole. Each time he drank, he would shake his head, spewing water that formed a beautiful spray against the dark rocks. I used a fast shutter speed of 3 200 to freeze the water. I converted the image to black and white to highlight the water droplets. I hope the image conveys the playful way the giraffe was tossing his head and the beauty of the contrast of the spots on the giraffe and the dancing water.”
“I had never been in a night hide before so I was thrilled even before we saw the first animal. A Verreaux’s eagle owl was hunting insects. He then made a short jump – also using his wings to surprise his prey without a sound. He did so several times so I could photograph his hunting behaviour. The challenge was to use a sufficiently short shutter speed without getting the ISO too high.”
“A zebra in silhouette stands before the full moon with streaks of clouds crossing the moon. The cloud stripes seem to echo the unseen stripes of the zebra – creating a striking and poetic scene.”
