Each year, we host a member photo contest, and we always have great fun looking at the entries. The 2025 competition was tough — we received numerous compelling pictures snapped by members during their travels all over the world. After much deliberation, we narrowed down the finalists to these images. The winner of the contest, who took the photo on this issue’s cover, will receive a complimentary two-night stay in a King Premier Ocean Front Room at the Malibu Beach Inn, a scenic hideaway outside Los Angeles. Congratulations!

First-Place Winner

On the Move

This snap of an Adélie penguin entranced the entire committee; in the end, the vote was unanimous. Member J.B. captured the adorable bird at just the right moment, midstep and well framed by a chunk of ice. The crystalline background contrasts beautifully with the gray-black terrain of rounded pebbles on which the penguin strides. And what a purposeful-looking stride! In short, we loved everything about this picture: the textures, the composition, the sense of movement and, not least, the charming subject.

Runners-up

Traditional Transport

A second photo by J.B., taken in Yunnan, China, also made our list of finalists, thanks in part to its similarly unimpeachable composition. The earth tones of the man’s clothing and baskets stand out against the blues and reds of the wall and propaganda poster, and the handcart’s angle creates a striking diagonal against the grid of the bricks.