Wildlife Photo Competition 1 2014 : Results

  • Judges Comment
  • Congratulations for this most original and fun wildlife shot and for the first lion to win this competition. He is beautiful and you have caught this look of absolute frustration as he is swarmed by flies. This is an example of a photo with that little something magic which takes it to another level. It has become a story and it stirs up emotions. Your capture is perfect and a firm favourite from the start. Well done.
  • Photographers Comment
  • I took the photo in Tanzania, Serengeti National park, January 2013. I have used Canon 5D Mark 3 and lens 600 mm with the following settings S 1/1600, f 5.6, ISO 500. African flies and annoy all the people and animals. (I'm sorry for my terrible English. English is not my native language)
  • www.dorik.fishup.ru
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Just magic. Polar bear with her two cubs huddling together on their ice walk. The empty, icy background makes this so peaceful and enhances the beautiful off white tones of the bears, their black noses and eyes, so sweet. What a fabulous opportunity, and once again the overcast flat light really makes the picture special. Very well done, so close. PS mind that signature, it does distract from such a harmonious composition.
  • Photographers Comment
  • What a great honor to receive a Mark of Excellence in this particular category, thank you! I used a Nikon D800e with a Sigma DG 150-500 f5-6.3 APO HSM lens at 500mm, 1/750sec, f8, ISO 200 to capture this mama bear and her cubs from the stern of the Akademik Ioffe, a Russian research ship I was on, sailing through the Northwest Passage. The ice-strengthened hull of the ship allowed us to stop within a pack of first year sea ice and shut off the engines, which attracted the bears to within 150m of the ship. Post processing of the RAW image was done in Lightroom v5.3 including exposure, cropping, clarity, shadows, lens correction and noise reduction.
  • www.spacehoggraphics.com
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Poor, and very brave bear. Another road cuts across another of nature’s own pathways, and wildlife has to adapt once more to mankind’s ceaseless advance into every corner of the planet. This is a lovely, though sad document which tells a sorry tale, not so much of the bear but of the humans. This photo makes a mark of excellence because it is much more than just a recorded image of an animal, it is a story and it stirs up feelings, be they of awe or be they of regret. It is also very nicely taken, all focus on the bear stepping out of nature into a land of metal and tarmac, 4x4s, smart phones, domestic animals and of course people whom we all know have forgotten where they came from. Very well done.
  • Photographers Comment
  • I feel so honored to get a mark of excellence for this photo and that I was able to evoke the same feeling when I saw the scene. Taken in Yellowstone National Park. I used a Canon t3i and my Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II, minimal editing for color correction done in Lightroom 4.
  • www.amandareesephotography.com/
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • I hope you got away! This black bear looks like he means business. Great shot and you have done well composing this so well under such a nerve wrenching situation, you have captured enough of the wild forest atmosphere to represent the bear’s habitat but have kept all of our attention on bear himself and his piercing glare. Scary and stunning.
  • Photographers Comment
  • Thank you. This means so much. I took this picture in the rainforest in Alaska. This picture is actually of the mama bear. Her two cubs were up a tree about 4ft away from me. She was definitely keeping her eye on me. Luckily the river she was fishing in was full of salmon. So I did not feel threatened. I love photography but in no way am I dumb. :) Also I kept my distance. I took this photo on 9/16/2013 with my canon 60D. My focal length was 140mm, shutter speed was 1/200, and aperture was set at f/5.6. ISO was 2000.
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Oh these lion cubs are so sweet, mother in the background. Well done for getting down low to capture this reflection. Beautiful and this round’s cutest photo ☺
  • Photographers Comment
  • I took the photo in Tanzania, Serengeti National park, January 2013. I have used Canon 5D Mark 3 and lens 600 mm with the following settings S 1/250, f 5.6, ISO 1000.
  • www.dorik.fishup.ru
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • This is a powerful composition. The close crop of mother and baby gibbons make one graphic half picture, very sharp and a beautiful image of a child/mother relationship. The background makes the other, counter weight half, backlit and very blurred. Nice use of high ISO permits this unusual mix of high though still soft contrast. There is a slight flare though if we really start looking for a point to deduct, which is a shame. Beautiful, well done.
  • Photographers Comment
  • Thank you so much for awarding me a Mark of Excellence. My name is Brian Connett and I live in the UK although when taking this photo I was on holiday at Perth in Australia. The gibbons were in Perth Zoo, along with several others. They were all vary lively but I was lucky to catch this moment when they were a bit quieter, it only lasted for a few seconds! I was using a Canon 5D Mk11at 1/160th sec, f5.0 ISO 400 with the EF 24 - 105mm f4L lens. I took many other photos, but this was the only one with mother and child together.
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • A great fun portrait of these two having stripey fun. The nice green background really frames these zebras well, perhaps more so than a burned dry savannah, and I’ve actually started to like those chopped off ears which add to the chaos. Strong square format… I think we’ve seen your work here before in which case well done once again.
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Although this is somewhat blue and over saturated it is so charming that it has forced its way through. This really must be Peter Rabbit in Mr McGregor’s garden paradise. You don’t need to go to Africa to get great wildlife photography. Well done, most amusing and nicely composed.
  • Photographers Comment
  • While working with a Micro 40mm lens in pollination station capturing our precious bees in close company with extremely bright colored gardening I noticed something moving around in the flowers. There he sat hidden and waiting to set his attack on the target. I had to pin point the focus on his eye and compose the entire shot around him. I had to wonder is he there for Easter or just to lettuce-prey? He finally approached his victory's reward: smiling with his cheeks full on both sides with cabbage as he sat there in his glory and me in mine with an unexpected photo-opportunity. I laughed so hard it was hard to keep a steady aim. Yes, that garden is that bright at this years' flower and garden festival. Thank you...Elizabeth Yureklier DiRosa
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Well this came so close to winning. It is a stunning close up shot of a running herd of deer, a difficult photo to take. You have gone further than just taking a picture with this exciting crop and action composition of so many heads and eyes and ears. Beautiful and original work. However when it comes to the technical crunch there is a slight lack of focus on the most prominent deer, the one my eye wants to settle on…
  • Photographers Comment
  • At the end of the day I ran across this herd of elk while exploring around Ellensburg, in eastern Washington. I brought the car to a stop and just had a few quick moments to set up with a long lens out my car window. The light was fading so I had to shoot at a high ISO and a wide open aperture. The herd watched me for a moment, and then started to move into the brush, each one watching me as they moved away. I cropped this shot for the center elk, but in hindsight, I probably should have cropped the right most elk a little more. He is out of focus. I cropped for the ears and eyes, and should have cropped out the out-of-focus elk, or at least cropped to exclude his eye.
  • www.mooneyimages.com
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • This is good, a nice fun shot. Well done for the less usual viewpoint, the pleasing composition and the nice depth of field.
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Another high ISO shot, the grainy effect bringing atmosphere to this hunt. It looks like a mother lioness and her two sons, in any case it is an incredible scene to witness, the look on that warthog’s face sums up its desperate situation pretty well. Great action and rare encounter, well done.
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • This round gets twelve Marks of Excellence because I cannot bring myself to eliminate any more. This black and white polar bear for example is just so handsome. Well done.