Rachel Stewart, Incandescence (LANDSCAPE 2023)

There are some moments in nature when time stands still and the incredible scenes in front of your eyes just don't make sense and are hard to comprehend as reality. This was one of those moments. Milford Sound in New Zealand, an ancient fiord carved by glaciers during the ice age, was dubbed ''the eighth wonder of the world" by Rudyard Kipling and there is no questioning why. If you wanted to get a glimpse of what life was like before humans in New Zealand, this is the place to come. We had been standing in the rain for about an hour, with not a lot of hope of seeing a sunset, but just taking in the astounding towering mountains of granite that seemed to rise from the sea floor was enough. Just as I turned to walk away, this incredible burn of light from the sun came shooting down the sound and out in front of us to create what is one of the most perfect light beams I've ever seen. Nature just never ceases to amaze me.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.