Photo Contest | Arizona Highways

2026 Adventures in Nature Student Photo Contest

“Reprieve” by Max Tuttle/Honorable Mention in the 2025 student photo contest, is a photo of a green and purple hummingbird against a dark backdrop.

Photograph by Max Tuttle

The Nature Conservancy in Arizona, in partnership with Arizona Highways Magazine, presents the 13^th annual “Adventures in Nature” student photo contest! Students aged 13-18 are invited to enter up to two photos that capture Arizona’s beauty and wildlife for a chance to win cash prizes. The contest is open for submissions between March 1^st and March 31^st, 2026, and the top 10 winners will be announced on a virtual awards ceremony on April 16^th, 2026. All contestants will receive a Zoom invitation by email. See last year’s winners here.

Prizes:
1^st place — $5,000
2^nd place — $2,500
3^rd place — $1,000
7 honorable mentions — $250 each

Please view the updated OFFICIAL RULES before submitting entries.

GALLERY

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Photo by Valentina Cheno

I was walking outside of Andrada Polytechnic High school and as I was walking across a dirt path there was a hill and as I went up and admired the view I saw this catius all by its self so I had to take a picture of it. It just felt right.

Location: Tucson AZ

Photo by Amalia Campos-Keplar

This was a lonely flower on a bush with no other flowers on it. I saw the beauty in the lonely and made it into something new. I wanted this picture to show how being alone and being to yourself can actually be beautiful, a sort of beauty in darkness kind of moment.

Location: Andrada Polytechnic Highschool

Photo by Christina Mowery

I went hiking at Sabino Canyon for the first time and on our way up the phone-line trail, i saw a deer munching on the grass. Deer are very pretty and calm and i thought it was really cool that i could get so close without it getting spooked.

Location: Sabino Canyon