Celebrating the power and beauty of nature, the National
Wildlife Federation attracted more than 23,000 photographic entries
to its annual photo contest.
Baby Animals category, second
place, by Loi Nguyen
Photo courtesy of National Wildlife
Federation
Winners in the prestigious contest came from seven states —
Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon and West
Virginia. They represented six nations — Canada, England, Hungary,
Kenya and Kuwait as well as the U.S.
“Whether lifelong professionals or avid amateurs, all winners
display a love of wildlife and an appreciation of how photography
can help bring nature to life in a way that inspires others to take
action and protect it, both at home and abroad,” states a
news release announcing the winners last Thursday.
Exceptional patience, unusual skill and a certain degree of
rapport with animals were all needed to capture a split image of
swans above and below the water as they feed.
The picture by Grant Thomas won first place among British
photographers in the annual Underwater Photographer of the Year
contest. With more than 5,000 entries, the competition is becoming
one of the most interesting photo contests in the world.
“I chose Loch Lomond as the location for this shot due to its
idyllic scenery, water access and friendly swans,” said Thomas, who
now lives in New Zealand. “My initial idea was to frame a split
shot of one swan feeding below the surface. But when I noticed how
comfortable they were around me, I was confident, with some
patience, I could get that magical shot of the two.”
Martin Edge, one of three judges in the contest, noted how this
photograph impressed the judges more and more as they looked at it.
The split between water and air forms a perfect curve at the
traditional one-third line, with the scene punctuated by blue sky
and puffy clouds, he said.
“The eyes have just enough base at the bottom of the frame to
look into,” he added. “Like archways, the curved neck of both swans
draws the eye even further into the frame.”
Out of the 5,000 images, 110 were called out for awards and
featured in the
2018 UPY Yearbook (PDF 37.2 mb), which can be downloaded from
the UPY website. A video presenting all the winners can be viewed
at the bottom of this page.
“I do not believe that you will find a better selection of
underwater images anywhere else, either online, in magazines,
books, journals or any other publication I can think of,” said
Edge, who has published several of his own books on underwater
photography. “In my opinion, this particular edition is a universal
experience in superior underwater imagery.
“Since the conception of this competition four years ago, we
have seen a number of groundbreaking techniques, which have
inspired and encouraged other creative photographers to continue to
push the boundaries,” he added.
Speaking of pushing boundaries, the photograph judged to be the
overall best in the contest this year is a composite panoramic
photograph of a shipwreck by German photographer Tobias Friedrich.
One can see amazing details on the cargo deck of the SS
Thistlegorm, a British merchant ship sunk by German aircraft in
World War II. Trucks carrying motorcycles remain as they were
before the ship sank 77 years ago.
The image simply does not work on a small scale, so I’m not
showing it on this page. But you can click and zoom in on the
award-winning photograph titled “Cycle
War.”
The winner in the “Behaviour” category is Filippo Borghi of
Italy, who spent two days in shallow water near Osezaki, Japan, to
get the shot of a cormorant with a sardine in its mouth.
Edge’s note to the photographer: “Filippo, this is one of my top
four images in this year’s competition of UPY. Flawless in every
way. Congratulations!”
A picture of three seahorses together in perfect profile was the
winner in the “Macro” category. Photographer Shane Gross of Canada
placed his off-camera strobe and flashlight on a small tripod
behind the trio and waited for them to turn the right way, as the
sun set and plankton began to rain down.
One of my favorite photos among the winners is a “highly
commended” image in the “Macro” category showing a black-saddle
snake eel with a tiny shrimp on the end of its nose. I’ve been
writing a lot lately about the Puget Sound food web, and I’ve
learned that a key to successful energetics is the size of a
predator compared to its prey. This miraculous photo, taken by
Italian Marchione dott. Giacomo in Indonesia, captures in fine
detail this sense of scale.
From a photo of a tiny shrimp, I’d like to jump to a “highly
commended” shot of a killer whale in the “Wide Angle” category. The
picture was taken near Skjervoya, Norway, by Tobia Friedrich, the
same photographer who revealed the shipwreck Thistlegorm. He
noticed a pod of killer whales circling a net filled with herring
and used a 8-15 mm fisheye lens to provide a mystical feeling.
“This is an image that transports you to a wondrous moment in an
extreme location,” said contest judge Alex Mustard. “Tobi had the
inspiration not only to shoot the orca, but to also tell the bigger
story with the snow-covered mountains surrounding the fjord.”
The winner in the “Portrait” category showed a sand tiger shark
in the midst of a “ball” of bait fish near the wreck of the
Caribsea off North Carolina. U.S. photographer Tanya Houppermans
laid on her back and aimed her camera upward until the fish parted
and she got a clear shot of the shark’s white underbelly.
In another engaging photo by a U.S. photographer, multiple
elements — colorful coral, intense sunset and human silhouettes —
were all put into a single frame by Brook Peterson. The image,
which took third place in “Wide Angle,” was captured in Egypt’s Red
Sea.
“This lovely sunset split shot is enhanced with the other
snorkelers on the pier,” wrote judge Martin Edge. “Most of us would
have avoided them, but Brook had other intentions, which made for a
dynamic different image.”
A whimsical image of an underwater campfire — fire under ice —
came “highly commended” by the judges in the “Wide Angle” category.
Photographer Pekka Tuuri of Finland pulled together a bunch of
props to create this picture. Dry ice was used to create bubbles,
and a piece of orange gel over a dive light provided the proper
color for the “fire.” Pieces of firewood were nailed together, and
the sausage came from a local gas station near Kuortane , Finland,
the site the frozen-over Kaatiala quarry.
One of the photographs surprised me as an optical illusion,
although that was not mentioned in the notes on the photo. When I
first looked at the image called “Battle
of the Tompots” (click to view), I saw two owl-like eyes
staring at me. It looked like the creature had a yellow beak and
whispy feathers over both eyes. But this was actually two fish
biting each other’s lips as part of a mating battle. The photo, by
Henley Spiers, was the winner in the “British Waters Macro”
category.
They say no two snowflakes are alike. And that’s easy to believe
after you’ve seen the extraordinary crystalline structure of a
single snowflake, as captured in images by Russian photographer
Alexey Kljatov.
Alexey has spent a lot of time perfecting his technique of
shooting snowflakes on the balcony of his apartment. He uses just a
simple point-and-shoot digital camera, the Canon Powershot A650,
along with a reversed lens from an old Soviet Zenit film camera. He
captures a series of images of the same snowflake, then combines
them with special software to reduce the random “noise” found in a
single image. He explains his technique on his blog
“The Keys to December.”
Check out Alexey’s Flickr
page for dozens of snowflake images along with other enhanced
photographs. I post a sampling here, with his permission. Other
media outlets also have shown interest. See his list of
publications.
Some of the best photographers in the world contribute to
National Geographic magazine. So it’s no wonder that a photo
contest sponsored each year by the publication draws in some
incredible photographs.
Last year, more than 7,000 entries were submitted by amateur and
professional photographers from 150 countries, and I would expect
an equal number this year. The deadline has passed for submissions
in 2014, and the winner of the $10,000 grand prize plus several
runners-up will be announced later this month.
For now, with permission from National Geographic, I’d like to
share 10 water-related images from a gallery of the judges’
favorite photographs for 2014. To see more pictures, visit
National Geographic’s Photo Contest 2014 Galleries.
When Gregory Lecoeur jumped
into the Salish Sea near Vancouver Island’s Race Rocks, the water
was cold, visibility was poor and the current was strong. When he
sensed shadows moving about him, he slowed his movements. Soon,
curious Steller sea lions were trying to play with his camera and
nibble his fingers.Rick Loesche caught this
decisive moment in the life of a crab, which was about to be eaten
on Sanibel Island, Florida.Dave Kan was finishing up a
photo shoot in Queensland, Australia, when a kangaroo appeared out
of nowhere and bounded across the edge of a lake on the Noosa
River, as if the animal were walking on water.
I’m always pleased to present the winners of “National
Wildlife” magazine’s annual photo contest. This year’s winning
photos seem better than ever.
The magazine’s editors say they continue to be surprised by the
quality of the entries — which reached 28,000 in the 2012 contest.
And they were pleased to see expected and unexpected animal
behaviors shown in the images.
To view the top winners and the stories behind the photos, go to
the page
“2012 Photo Contest Winners” on the National Wildlife
Federation’s website.
The photo of the leopard seal and the baby penguin captures a
moment after the seal ambushes the bird and starts playing with his
food. The photographer, Amos Nachoum of San Francisco, had to hang
out patiently under water to catch this and similar images.
The photo of sockeye salmon was captured when photographer David
Hall of Woodstock, N.Y., tried to escape the swift current by
taking refuge near a tree trunk. The stream is the Adams River of
British Columbia.
With nature photographs ranging from the familiar to the exotic,
Seattle’s Burke Museum is preparing to open a new exhibit featuring
the winners of the 2012 International Conservation Photography
Awards.
Todd Mintz won an honorable
mention in 2010 for this underwater photo he calls “Room with a
View.” Taken in Bonaire National Marine Park in the Netherlands,
the photo shows two Yellownose gobies looking out from an opening
in a coral head. “With the flower-like appearance of the red
tubeworm, I set to the challenge of getting all three subjects on a
common focal plane,” Mintz explains.
Everyone is invited to the opening day of the exhibit on
Saturday, when the winners will be revealed. Four of the winning
photographers will talk about their techniques and passions for
nature photography. Judges who selected the winners will offer
tours of the exhibit.
Review the schedule.
The biennial competition was initiated in 1997 by well-known
nature photographer Art Wolfe, the Seattle native whose stunning
compositions are often compared to fine paintings.
This year, the exhibit will include about 75 photographs taken
by various amateur and professional photographers from throughout
the world. More than 1,500 images were submitted for the
competition.
From the Burke Museum’s website:
“Capturing beautiful moments in the natural world, the photos
connect us to the tiniest of creatures and enormous environmental
changes. The competition and its award-winning photos inspire,
educate, and encourage us all to consider our impacts on the
world’s natural resources.”
