I am absolutely thrilled, humbled, and deeply affirmed to share that my photograph, 'Frozen by the Loch', has been selected as a Highlight in the ‘Beauty of Plants & Fungi’ category of the 2026 Glanzlichter competition. I captured this photograph in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland, in December 2025.
This year, the competition received nearly 25,000 entries from across the globe. To be one of just 86 photographs selected for the final 2026 gallery is a monumental milestone for me. What makes this even more special is that I am the only entrant from Great Britain to be featured in this year's collection. It is, without a doubt, one of my proudest achievements to date. Read on to find out more about the competition, the photograph and some broader photographic themes.
Christopher Harrison's image "Frozen by the Loch" captured in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland. This image is featured in the Glanzlichter Highlights 2026, in the Beauty of Plants and Fungi category. It made the final 86 images out of the 25,000 entered in the 2026 competition.
Capturing "Frozen by the Loch" in the Scottish Highlands
The selected image, 'Frozen by the Loch', is incredibly close to my heart because it showcases the quiet, raw beauty of the Scottish wilderness in winter. The photograph features a weeping silver birch completely encased in delicate hoar frost, standing beside a small Scottish loch. This photograph challenged me, as the conditions on this morning were rather unique. The light was flat and soft, with thick cloud and freezing fog drifting gently over the landscape. There was little to no wind, and it was -8 degrees celcius. These conditions meant that traditional photography was challenging - which pushed me to think more deeply about what I could capture. With this in mind, I flew my drone around at sunrise to see
To capture this scene, I used my DJI Mavic 3 Pro drone, hovering just above tree height. By shooting down towards the tree, the deep blue water of the loch became a clean, vivid backdrop. This shift to an aerial perspective turned the scene into a semi-abstract photograph, perfectly highlighting the fantastic, intricate skeletal structure of the frozen branches against the dark water. It almost looks like the blue water of the loch is the sky, challenging the viewer to think twice about the photograph. Some have also said it looks like it is underwater, which I agree with.
In this blog post, I share my thoughts on the Glanzlichter nature photography competition, describe my highlight awarded photograph and I discuss the use of AI in photography.
You can view the Glanzlichter nature photography 2026 gallery of the 86 awarded winners and highlights here.
The Purist Approach of the Glanzlichter Photography Competition: True Reflections of Our Shared Planet
One of the things I respect most about the Glanzlichter nature photography competition is its renowned purist approach to nature photography. In an era where digital manipulation is rampant, the jury is hyper-critical of post-processing. The rules are strict: removing objects is completely forbidden, and while adapting colours is allowed, every adjustment is rigorously reviewed. Anything deemed too heavily edited is disqualified. This is done against the RAW files, submitted by photographers alongside High-Res edited JPEG or TIFF files.
Because of these steadfast standards, there is absolutely no AI in this gallery. What you see in the final collection of 86 images is a true reflection of photography as a dedicated craft, and a genuine, unadulterated reflection of our shared planet. It represents the chase, the dedication and the difficultly in capturing the conditions and compositions which are truly extraordinary, rare and beautiful.
Our Shared Duty as Photographers - Honesty and Integrity
I am a firm believer in honesty and integrity in photography - we have a duty to not mislead. Artificial intelligence in photography, or even producing photographic quality AI images, is now commonplace on social media. Browsing platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X or Threads often results in seeing AI produced photography - whether this is an original photograph heavily manipulated by AI, or a whole photograph produced by AI. Often it is not clear that this is the case. I strongly disagree with this approach.
Artificial intelligence is truly something which we should fear in the photography community. It threatens our craft. It is down to us all to safeguard and protect photography as an art form.
This is one of many reasons that I enter photographic competitions. It proves my work is truthful and an honest depiction of nature, along with those others featured or entering. It gives a platform for us - and gives us the opportunity to showcase our work. I also hope that it provides inspiration to others to join the chase, and to push themselves to excel.
As a side note - I'm 100% self taught and I work full time in IT/Technology. I by no means see myself as a 'professional photographer'. I do all of my photography for the love of the craft.
The nine highlights of the 2026 Glanzlichter Beauty of Plants and Fungi category.
Pushing the Boundaries of Nature Photography
When looking at the complete gallery, I am struck by how incredibly artistic and meticulously curated the collection is. To push the boundaries of what nature photography can be, while staying strictly within the confines of unmanipulated reality, is no small feat.
I want to extend a massive congratulations to the other 85 photographers whose breathtaking work makes up this gallery. Sharing this space with such visionary artists from around the world is a true honour.
The Glanzlichter competition has a prestigious reputation in the photographic community for being artistic, and I think this is evident in the collection, shown here, of the highlights of the Beauty of Plants & Fungi category. Again - seeing my own photograph there is extremely surreal and humbling. I cannot quite describe the feeling it gives me, but I can say that I am very proud to be in there.
A Rigorous Judging Process and Heartfelt Thanks
Knowing the immense rigour of the Glanzlichter judging process makes this inclusion even more meaningful. The jury was tasked with whittling down thousands of images per category within a single week. During their time in the artists’ village of Worpswede, they engaged in passionate, respectful debates about the very nature of our craft, weighing the story behind an image against its raw visual impact.
A huge thank you to the jury for their dedication and for seeing something special in my work. I also want to extend my deepest gratitude to the organisers, Florian and Lisa Smit, for their tireless work in bringing this prestigious competition to life and giving nature photographers such an incredible platform.
'The Fallen One' by Christopher Harrison. This photograph reached the final round of judging in the 2026 Glanzlichter nature photography competition in the Aerial Views of Nature category.
My Other Photograph in the Glanzlichter 2026 Book
I do also have another photograph that reached the final round of the judging process. This photograph will be in the book in the grid of photographs that made the final round.
The photograph was captured on the same morning as my awarded photograph in Scotland, and depicts a fallen birch tree laying in the loch. The tree looks alive, as if it is on a hillside, covered in hoar frost. It has however fallen, and is dead. The hoar frost gives this photograph a truly unique top down view from my drone, and again challenges the viewer on the perspective of the photograph.
It's also worth noting that this means that my other 28 photographs entered did not make the cut. If there is a takeaway here for my fellow photographers, it is this: don't let the unselected images discourage you or diminish the value of your work. Keep creating, keep entering, and keep sharing your unique perspective. It truly only takes one image to make an impact and resonate with the judges.
Looking Ahead: The Book, the Tour, and Fürstenfeldbruck
The Glanzlichter 2026 exhibition will soon go on a nationwide tour throughout Germany, bringing these incredible images to a wider audience. Alongside the tour, a beautiful book featuring the winning photographs is being produced. I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on a copy and spend time browsing the photographic talent on display.
Finally, I am eagerly looking forward to attending the award ceremony in Fürstenfeldbruck in April to celebrate this milestone in person and connect with the international photography community. If you plan to be there, let me know!
Thank you to everyone who has supported my photography journey so far!
