Wildlife Photo Competition 6 2014 : Results

Judges Comment
The exceptional quality and technical achievement of this photograph take it into a realm of its own. Sharp, dark and cold, a terrific atmosphere for such a handsome sharp-eyed predator. The foreground snow-blurr brings a lot to the composition but I guess it must have troubled you at the time. Stunning Mr Fox wins it !

Judges Comment
An original minimalist approach to this theme with plenty graphic appeal and interest. Nice light and colours make it so happy ☺ well done.
Photographers Comment
This spring photo was taken at the edge of the woods next to our home. I often cruise around the perimeter of our yard, camera in hand, looking for nature and macro shots. In this case I was holding an Olympus E-M1 with a Olympus 50mm F2.0 macro lens. Actually, I was at first focused on the Maple seed pods which are so beautiful dangling from the trees especially when slightly back lit as seen here. My eyes widened excitedly when I saw this inchworm working its way up the stem. This was taken at just the right moment (with tongue in cheek, I would call it the peak of action) and the angle was just right to pick up some highlights on his silk thread off to the left. F4, 1/160 sec, ISO 200.
www.peterfraileyphoto.com

Judges Comment
This is one of the most striking action shots we have seen in this wildlife comp. Apart from the extremely rare occurrence of such an attack you have caught this lynx/bobcat at full stretch with the unfortunate partridge looking just that. No doubt a fantastic spectacle to witness… The colours in this picture are nicely matching but detail is sadly lacking. Is this a close crop enlargement, bad lens quality or just over compressed? It is all the same a great picture.
Photographers Comment
"Bobcat and Chuckar" James Stachecki, Natural World Photography, www.naturalworldphotos.com, Nikon D300, Nikon 70-200mm f2.8, handheld, (aprox. ISO800 1/2000, f8). January 2008, Animals of Montana, Montana. Minimal photoshop with NIK Viveza retouching. Image cropped only on the left and right side to make a vertical image. There is detail throughout, none of the highlights are clipped. The overcast day and lack of shadows prevents the background snow from having detail. Also, the snow is in the background which is blurred and should not be sharp anyway. The cat, bird, and flying snow are tack sharp. Maybe this doesn't register in this small JPEG. Thanks for looking.
www.naturalworldphotos.com

Judges Comment
The amazing basilisk or Jesus lizard dashes back into this competition and not without a splash (or two). It is really nice how the lizard seems to slowly appear from its near perfect camouflage. Fab photo, well done indeed.

Judges Comment
Black beauty meets White beauty. This is a beautiful shot where the horses really do look wild. Surely one of nature’s handsomest. You have beautifully seized their wonderful attitude, their healthy and happy lifestyle aswell as the dusty wild atmosphere. Great shot.
Photographers Comment
Hello, I am German and live in Utah, for now. I am a self-taught photographer. I knew when I moved here, that we have Wild Horses. Seeing and watching these Wild Horses is a wonderful experience & incredible! We could see there where 6-7 horses in this little herd. The white stallion you see here in this image was the band stallion. Off to the side a bit, was this black stallion and his brown mare, always off to the side, but always following. We figured the black stallion was trying to steal the white stallions band or become the leader or just try to steal a mare from him. All of sudden the white stallion charged at the black stallion to basically tell him to stay away. Wonderful scene to watch, I grabbed my backup Camera, since my primary camera had the large lens on, that would have not worked, since we were to close. The camera used was a Nikon D40 with a Tamron 18-270 mm. I shot in RAW, the setting was, Iso 400, EV 0.3, f/6.3, 1/500, handheld! Thank you for choosing my images!

Judges Comment
The magenta and green really set the colours flying in this interesting and fun photograph. Dangerous work carting all that weight across a stick. Ants are just amazing creatures and you have nicely given them centre stage. Fourmidable.

Judges Comment
Oh this must be amazing to see! They are so cute for such powerful beasts. I take it you were safely hidden behind secure bars and that the squabble isn’t over your picnic… I love the forest atmosphere and the dark colours in this shot and the bears’ fur is so beautiful. Stunning portrait of these terrific animals, well done.

Judges Comment
This is a good fly-eye shot. Who needs Ray Bans when you’ve got eyes like these? Nice faultless macro technique which shows a lot of talent and perseverance.

Judges Comment
Well you can’t look at this without reaction. Such a powerful shot, almost disturbing, all that black, grey and the red of the buffalo’s eye… clever.