Dramatic moments come to life in many of the photos honored by this year's Nature Conservancy photo contest, but our favorite is a quieter scene of a bull elk sipping from a river in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Honorable Mention, Lands

Photography: Bruce Hogle/TNC Photo Contest 2023

Honorable Mention, Reptiles & Amphibians

Photography: Christian Passeri/TNC Photo Contest 2023

Second Place, Birds

Photography: Mike Krehbiel/TNC Photo Contest

First Place, Insects & Arachnids

Photography: Benjamin Salb/TNC Photo Contest 2023

Second Place, Freshwater

@creidt Photography: Alan Taylor/TNC Photo Contest 2023

Honorable Mention, People & Nature

Photography: Narayan Malu/TNC Photo Contest 2023​

Second Place, Lands

Photography: Roberto Valdez/TNC Photo Contest 2023

First Place, Birds

Photography: Grzegorz Długosz/TNC Photo Contest 2023

First Place, Aerials

Photography: Agnieszka Wieczorek/TNC Photo Contest 2023

First Place, Reptiles and Amphibians

Photography: Irina Petrova Adamatzky/TNC Photo Contest 2023

First Place, Underwater Life

Photography: Russell Laman/TNC Photo Contest 2023

Second Place, Mammals

Photography: HJ Yang/TNC Photo Contest 2023

First Place, Mammals

Photography: Siddhartha Ghosh/TNC Photo Contest 2023

Third Place, Mammals

Photography: Luisa Pericoli/TNC Photo Contest 2023

First Place, Oceans

Photography: Estebane Rezkallah/TNC Photo Contest 2023

Third Place, Climate

Photography: Luisa Lynch Harris/TNC Photo Contest 2023

Grand Prize Winner

This supernatural-looking creature is a newt. The camera points up at it from underwater on a starry night.

Photography: Tibor Litauszki/TNC Photo Contest 2023