Ben Burton, Nyinggulu (ANIMALS 2026)

Suspended in light, swimming with a Whale Shark amongst the Ningaloo blues is a moment that is hard to contextualise with words. On the right day it can appear as if the light rays are puppeteering their movements, with beauty to be found from every angle – out wide, up close, and in the details. These sorts of photos are highly rewarding as you must work with natural lighting only, you have to swim and maneuverer with a surprisingly quick animal, you have to time your breathe hold whilst adjusting your camera settings on the fly with minimal opportunity to adjust your composition.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.