We are thrilled to announce the winners of the ON1 Anniversary Contest, celebrating 21 years of photography, creativity, and innovation with the ON1 community. Photographers from around the world submitted images spanning two decades of ON1 software history. From cherished shots taken years ago to brand-new portfolio favorites, and our judges evaluated every entry on creativity, composition, technical execution, editing skill, and overall visual impact.

Choosing winners from a field this strong wasn’t easy. Thank you to everyone who submitted a photo and shared a piece of their story with us. Below are the images that rose to the top.

Grand Prize Winner: “Crossing Guards” by Akers Moore

Two zebras standing on a dirt safari road facing the camera, framed by rain puddles and green grassland

Credit: Akers Moore | Original Submission

Our Grand Prize goes to Akers Moore for “Crossing Guards,” captured in the Ngorongoro Crater in Kenya in 2021. Moore was driving down a safari road on the first morning of a trip when two zebras stopped and held their ground, framed perfectly by a pair of rain puddles.

“I really love how the rain puddles frame the subject,” Moore said. “I knew I had something special when I pressed the shutter button and I could not wait to get home to edit it.”

Moore’s editing notes stood out to our judges for their precision: adjusting exposure with Curves, adding Dynamic Contrast and Sharpening, enhancing the grass and soil color with Color Mixer, then masking the zebras individually to brighten their highlights and deepen their blacks before finishing with a vignette to draw the eye to the subject. It’s a textbook example of using ON1 Photo RAW to elevate a great capture into a complete, polished image.

As our Grand Prize Winner, Akers Moore receives a $500 Amazon gift card and the official title of ON1 Anniversary Contest Grand Prize Winner.

Second Place: “Stairway to Heaven” by György Sziklai

Two silhouetted figures walking up a dramatic staircase between converging geometric walls, black and white, with a flag overhead

Credit: György Sziklai | Original Submission

Second place goes to György Sziklai for “Stairway to Heaven,” captured in Budapest in the evening light. Sziklai was drawn to the powerful geometry of a stairway and the striking silhouettes it created against the sky, aiming for a minimalist, timeless image with a strong sense of aspiration and movement.

The image was processed entirely in ON1 Photo RAW 2026, starting with a custom black-and-white preset built around Glow and Dynamic Contrast for added depth. Sziklai used the Healing Brush to remove sensor spots and a distracting figure from the scene, then applied Quick Mask AI for precise local adjustments that isolate the silhouettes with striking clarity.

You can see more of György Sziklai’s work on Instagram.

Third Place: “Mount Fuji Fishermen” by John Sowden

Three fishermen in silhouette on a rocky shore fishing on a still lake at dawn, with Mount Fuji in the background

Credit: John Sowden | Original Submission

Third place goes to John Sowden for “Mount Fuji Fishermen,” taken in April 2023. Sowden waited until three fishermen’s rods lined up parallel before pressing the shutter, deliberately underexposing the frame to place them in semi-silhouette against the reflections of a shrouded Mount Fuji.

Sowden edited the image in ON1 Photo RAW using the Fall Enhance Landscape preset at three-quarter strength, then fine-tuned the tone and color sliders to subtly enhance the scene’s natural richness without overpowering it.

Honorable Mentions

Five more images stood out for their creativity, technical skill, and visual impact. Each of the photographers below earns a well deserved Honorable Mention, and community spotlight on their work.

“Fishing” by Sai Ho Lee

A small fishing boat with two fishermen inside a massive cave, with mist rising from the water, in black and white

Credit: Sai Ho Lee | Original Submission

Taken at a famous cave landmark in Guangdong Province, China, this black-and-white image captures two fishermen dwarfed by the scale of the cavern around them. The rising mist and dramatic lighting give the scene an almost otherworldly quality.

“Have So Many Questions” by Maxime Plante

Black and white candid photo of a classroom of laughing, singing students in Tanzania

Credit: Maxime Plante | Original Submission

Captured during a school visit in Tanzania, this candid, high-contrast black-and-white portrait captures a classroom of students mid-song, their expressions unmistakably joyful. Plante processed the image in high-contrast black and white specifically to keep the focus on their vibrant energy.

“Rush Hour Traffic” by Ronnie Gordon

Credit: Ronnie Gordon | Original Submission

Captured on a photographer’s safari, this image freezes a large wildebeest herd charging down a riverbank in a wall of dust. The scale and energy of the migration crossing come through in every frame.

“Lake Louise, Canada” by Milton Anderson

A wide mountain valley with a glacier, shot on film and restored

Credit: Milton Anderson | Original Submission

Originally shot on a Hasselblad 500CM in the 1980s, this image began life as a 2¼ x 2¼ negative that Anderson scanned and brought back to life using ON1 Restore AI 2026 — a fitting entry for a contest celebrating 21 years of ON1 history.

“Morning on our Devonion Planet” by Robert Lyons

A volcanic crater landscape at Haleakala National Park, styled to look like a prehistoric planet

Credit: Robert Lyons | Original Submission

Shot at Haleakalā National Park on Maui, Lyons reimagined the volcanic crater to resemble Earth during the Devonian period roughly 400 million years ago — a creative, otherworldly take on a familiar landscape.

Thank you to everyone who entered the ON1 21st Anniversary Contest and shared your work with the community. We can’t wait to see what you capture next.

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