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.

---

Mountain Magic

Taken by member E.H., this image of a sunrise at Torres del Paine National Park in Chile helps make it clear why someone would want to journey all the way to the southern end of South America. The sharply craggy peaks, molten-looking clouds and placid lake paralleled by a staircase all combine in a photo of drama and scenic grandeur.

---

Off to Lunch

While exploring the Amazon Basin, member J.L. captured an incredible photo of a black-collared hawk just after it nabbed a fish out of the river. To take such a picture, you need patience and luck, plus a keen sense of timing. This photograph has both action and clarity, two qualities that don’t always go hand in hand.

---

Sacred Lanterns

Originally built in the 14th century and rebuilt in the 1930s, the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple has a spectacular location on South Korea’s coast. Member M.P. sent us this striking photo of paper lanterns hung there in honor of the Buddha’s birthday, floating above the temple visitors like so many sea creatures.

---

Polar Plunge

We liked how the line painted on the ship leads the eye to this photo’s main subject, but it was the sheer exuberance and joy of this moment that really won us over. Member A.S. took this photo while on a cruise off Antarctica, where jumping into the frigid sea has become a bracing rite of passage.

---

Temple Tranquility

It isn’t easy to get great shots of major temples around crowded Angkor Wat in Cambodia, but member M.D. managed to take this exceedingly atmospheric photo of Ta Prohm. The crumbling walls of the temple perfectly frame a saffron-robed monk. Instead of action, this image exudes stillness.

---

On the Hunt

On their first outing in the MalaMala Game Reserve in South Africa, member B.C. spotted an elusive leopard, which is impressive enough on its own. But to have captured such a photo of the beautiful animal, backdropped by the setting sun as it looked at the camera, is truly amazing.

---

Tropical Bliss

The Travel Office regularly gets requests from members wanting to go “somewhere warm,” and we suspect that this photo of The Brando in French Polynesia by member R. A. is exactly the sort of thing they’re picturing: a mirrorlike infinity pool abutting a white-sand beach shaded by mature palms, all overlooking a calm expanse of turquoise sea. It’s an archetypal vision of paradise.

---

Otherworldly Sunset

This painterly photo is the third on this list of finalists to be taken in Antarctica, underlining the photogenic quality of that extraordinary destination. Member S.L. snapped this picture while cruising with the Silver Endeavour, memorializing a sunset of cinematic splendor.