Bird Photo Competition 4 2016 : Results
- Competition Winner : First Prize
- $705.20
- Judges Comment
- Thanks to the ever-evolving capabilities of camera equipment and technical skills of photographers, we're now all familiar with images that freeze even the fastest of action. Capturing the moment as fast-flying birds such as these Pallid Swifts feed or drink over lakes is still incredibly difficult, but has been achieved by many photographers. Such endeavours invariably lead to huge numbers of failed attempts for each successful image and, looking at this shot, many would relegate it to the 'near miss' category due to the lack of sharp focus on the bird exhibiting the strongest action. For me, however, the plane of focus and depth-of-field could not be more perfect than in this shot, since they lead us to see the action from the perspective of the rear bird. For a moment, we're transported into the body of a swift as we observe another skimming the water's surface. The ability of a photograph to take us into the swifts' world is amazing and the recognition by the photographer that this had been achieved in this case deserves acknowledgement. We're now living in an era in which we could make everything sharp, but to do so would be a mistake: the challenge is to make creative use of 'unsharpness' to create the most compelling images.
- Photographers Comment
- I would like to thank the organizers and Mike Atkinson for selecting my picture among so many beautiful bird pictures. It is a great honor to receive this award. I have been photographing swifts for a while as a find them a great photographic theme. These incredible birds spend almost their whole life in the air. They feed, sleep, mate on the wing. The picture I selected for this competition shows two Pallid Swifts (Apus pallidus) the moment they dive towards a pool of water to capture floating insects. This feeding behavior takes place so fast that it is almost impossible to even see what is going on especially when tens of birds do it simultaneously one after the other. Getting one bird in the frame is normally a success. In this case I was lucky enough to get two birds in the frame. The picture was taken using a Canon EOS 7D mkII and Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L. Nikos Fokas
- nikosfokas-photography.blogspot.gr
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Capturing birds backlit by lightning was a truly inspired move by this photographer. A measure of extreme creativity.
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- An exceptional interaction between predators, strengthened by perfect poses and eye contact.
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- There are lots of images around of herons catching fish, but the combination of poses and angles on this one makes it stand out, especially the unusual capture of the bird's eyes from below.
- Photographers Comment
- Picture taken in Hungary
- https://500px.com/lemarcost
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Great angle and lighting show off this Common Loon (aka Great Northern Diver) family to perfection.
- Photographers Comment
- Dave Shaffer, Wisconsin, Nikon D3S, 200-400 mm . basic contrast and sharpening and a slight crop. This was my first opportunity to photograph loons with babies . I have always had back luck finding chicks . On this evening everything happened like magic . These proud parents wanted to show the world their babies . It was as if they wanted their picture taken . Truly a memorable and magical evening . I named this image "Happily Ever After "
- www.bearwitnessimages.com
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- It's easy to get motion blur in a flight shot, but very difficult to keep the head as sharp as this pelican's.
- Photographers Comment
- Thank you very much for selecting the picture. It was shot in Namibia during my last photographic holiday. Actually the first time I tried to catch birds while flying and the pelicans came pretty close and I got slapped in the face a few times. Therefore it was possible to frame this shot with a wider lens than usual wildlife lens (around 40-50mm).
- https://www.danielosterkamp.de
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Peacock shots tend to be very cliched, but I can't say I've seen one like this before!
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- A well observed refraction pattern created by this sunlit Mallard swimming in still, clear water.
- Photographers Comment
- Thank you so much, I Shot It team, for giving my photograph an award of excellence! There are really great bird photographs in this contest, so I am truly honored. My name is Oren Hasson, from Tel Aviv. Although I was a professional ornithologist, I am more a flower photographer than a bird photographer (that is, besides being a couples' therapist…). As a student, I used to work part time as a photographer. This mallard shot was made more than 20 years ago, in the Austrian Alps. I noticed it swimming rapidly forward in an amazingly clear little pond among the mountains. I was shooting slides, a very unforgiving film, hence exposure and composition should have been nothing less than perfect, and I had very little time to measure the light. Gladly, I was able to make it on time, and had the chance for no more than a single shot before the magic was gone. I shot this photograph with an old and reliable Ricoh XR-P, one of the first programmed SLRs in the market.
- https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DrOrenHasson