Nathan Luebbe — 2nd Place, Wildlife
An interview with Nathan Luebbe
GLPA 2025 Winner Interview
Nathan Luebbe — 2nd Place, Wildlife
Egrets, I’ve Had A Few
We’re pleased to feature Nathan Luebbe, 2nd Place in Wildlife at the Global Lens Photography Awards 2025.
Nate’s work blends adventure, patience, and a strong ethical approach to wildlife—showing nature as something with intrinsic value,
not a resource to be extracted. In Egrets, I’ve Had A Few, five days in the swamps of Texas and Louisiana culminate in a single,
dreamlike moment: an egret cutting through golden morning light and mist.
You described spending five full days in the swamps dreaming of this exact frame. What kept you committed to the vision until the final morning?
I was actually in Louisiana leading a workshop, so the thing that kept me going was contractual obligations. However, when you truly love photography
and you’re in a beautiful location, it’s usually doesn’t take a ton of effort to convince oneself to keep going 🙂
That golden mist feels almost unreal—what were the conditions in that moment, and what told you “this is the one”?
We were really spoiled to have this low mist on the water every morning, which is part of what allowed me to conceptualize the shot a few days before.
Warm afternoons heat the water, and then cold mornings create the mist, so then it was just a matter of waiting for the sun to crest the horizon, and
the large amount of luck to find the right bird in the right spot.
Egrets kept appearing in the wrong places all week—behind trees, in shade, overhead. How did you adjust your approach each day to increase your chances?
There’s really not much you can do, to be fully honest. I am an ethical wildlife photographer so I would never go chasing an animal around hoping to
photograph it, so all you can really do is keep showing up and hoping that the opportunity presents itself. Plus they have wings and I was in a tiny
boat so I was quite outmatched in terms of maneuverability.
Your work often feels like a quiet invitation to “go outside and feel it for yourself.” What do you hope viewers experience when they look at this photograph?
I hope they realize how magnificent unadulterated nature can be. We live in a society now where the natural world no longer has any intrinsic value,
rather it’s viewed as a collection of resources to be exploited and extracted. I hope to use my photography to show people that beautiful moments like
this are worthwhile in their own right, and that we need to protect habitat like this at all costs.
What was the biggest technical challenge in capturing a bright bird in motion through fog and forest—focus, exposure, timing, or something else?
The lighting actually really helped me here, because the bright sun allowed me to easily use a fast shutter (necessary to freeze the motion of the bird)
without needing to set my ISO too high. I had taken a LOT of still-life photos of trees that week, so this morning I already had my camera set for a fast
shutter and burst shooting specifically with the hopes of getting this shot.
We’ve chosen your photograph as one of the cover images for the first official Global Lens Awards book. What did that recognition mean to you, and what do you want the cover to communicate about your work?
If I’m being honest, I’m a little surprised that a photo good enough for the cover was only awarded second place, haha.
You started photography to catalog outdoor experiences and live in the moment. How has your relationship with the camera changed as your work became something others want to print and hang?
Fine art photography is a bit more detail-oriented than adventure photography but I do feel that the two compliment each other. My photos of my outdoor
adventures have improved as I’ve sold more work, and my printable photos have improved because of my ability, and willingness, to explore in nature.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone trying to capture “a dream shot” in nature—what would it be?
Patience and perseverance. The best photos rarely happen on your first attempt, but the magic secret for good photography is finding the right composition
and then combining that with the best conditions. Once you find the photo you want, you have to wait for everything else to line up, sometimes that could
be hours, sometimes it could be weeks or months or years.
Winning Photos by Nathan Luebbe
Egrets, I've Had A Few
Wildlife
Sharing is Bearing
Wildlife
Egrets, I've Had A Few
Landscape