Wildlife Photo Competition 2 2016 : Results

  • Competition Winner : First Prize
  • $808.00
  • Judges Comment
  • What a joy it is to see this beautiful photograph of bear cubs at play. But the picture is so easy to look at, a simple 2 tone background to set off the bears and a perfectly timed shot to catch that instant, that expression. I absolutely fell for this one, it oozes charm and is this round’s winner, despite the slightly tight crop… Congratulations!
  • Photographers Comment
  • My name is Peter Helmut Larsen, I am a hobby photographer based in Denmark. I'm very honered to have received this prize This photo of the two bear cubs was taken in a wildlife Park in Denmark. Camera nikon d7000, 200mm, f/7.1, iso 320, 1/1600s
  • www.plarsen.com
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • I love the story here and the ironic man and animal slant it has, and the lesson we never learn from. So many wild animals die of thirst in the savannah every year while man makes swimming pools! It is a great shot and the inclusion of the sign adds to the humour. Hopefully the chlorine won’t bleach the stripes.
  • Photographers Comment
  • Christophe Godard. EOS-5D, f/8, 1/250. South Africa. This shot was taken close from Krügersdorp, in a private lodge. I particularly love African wildlife and my job in the foreign affairs allowed me to travel a lot in Africa, always with a camera not too far. This one is one of my favourites and it was not taken with a huge telephoto ! Animals remind us that nature is fragile and that we need to preserve a good and sustainable balance between both spheres of influence.
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • This is beautifully wild. Not only have you managed to photograph these deer but you have composed a lovely picture of their habitat too. Like silhouettes at the end of a tunnel they bring so much depth to your composition. This photo jumped into the final from the beginning, great shot, well done, you nearly made it...
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Well this is amazing, not just for the quality of the photograph, but for the rarity of the situation. The cheetah looks fantastic and is coming straight at you. I can only wonder what is going on, and why it is coming towards you…? If we look at the tracks it looks like it has turned to come back. Anyway you have kept your cool and framed a nice background, (looks like Namibia maybe), which sets the scene for this striking animal’s home. You can be proud of this one, but be careful with that vignette...
  • Photographers Comment
  • My name is Benjamin, i am a hobby photographer based in Germany. The picture was taken during our travel through Namibia last year in september. It was a wonderful experience. The cheetah lives in captivity, because he has lost its parents due to poaching. The farm is part of an wider project to preserve wildlife and nature in namibia and is located at the D 707 between the Namib desert and the Tirasmountains, which you can see in the background. The shot was taken with a Canon 7D and a 70-200 2.8 lens at 800 iso and open aperture. I was a little anxious about the high iso, but in the end the photo turned out to be fine. And is one of my favorite shots i have ever taken. For more informantion, pictures, and timelapse video from namibia feel free to visit my site.
  • www.benschultefotografie.de/
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Looks like a european roedeer… The light is so merry and the deer so elegant as it trots into the perfect space for a great shot. The perfect space being the clearing in the background which shows the deer off so well. Beautiful.
  • Photographers Comment
  • The large areas of the 'Zentralfriedhof' in Vienna - one of the biggest cemeteries in whole Europe - give home to many wild living animals, including roe deer. If you walk quietly you can catch photos of them wandering between the graves and the wonderful tree-lined paths. Not a lot post processing done besides RAW development and some finishing work in Photoshop (tonal correction, curves, saturation, sharpening). Henrik Spranz/Austria Canon 5d Mk iii + Canon 400/2.8 L USM ii
  • facebook.com/fotomat
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Well one can only smile at the look on this red-eyed tree frog’s face :-) They are extraordinary little beings, and so colorful. You have gone that extra step to frame a nice bokeh background which brings this little fellow right to the front. I love his orange gloves and socks. Well done.
  • Photographers Comment
  • Congratulations to the all chosen and thanks to the judges for this "Mark of excellence" from Germany. I'm Reiner and the photo was taken in Costa Rica. I used a Canon 7d Mk II and a 55-250mm lens. Postprocessing was done in Lightroom (especially contrast work). In a row of some shots of this subject, it's been the background I love here the most.
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Wow, what stunning antlers, still in their velvet, and what a proud owner they have. The atmosphere is lovely, your composition wild and the rear view is refreshing. You have treated the light very nicely too, great shot.
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • Oh this cute little ground squirrel is back for some more with another charming shot. The tones are so soft, the flowers so fitting, its expression so human! Just wonderful, well done.
  • Photographers Comment
  • Thanks for giving one of the squirrels some reward and nice comment again! :) This rare European ground squirrels lives in Austria like me and I just love to watch them and get some nice shots there. Like you're saying it's too easy to judge their mimics in a human way, but it's not easy to get shots like this, but despite of sometimes bad results I always go away with a smile in my face when leaving the spot. Not a lot post processing done besides RAW development and some finishing work in Photoshop (tonal correction, curves, saturation, sharpening). Henrik Spranz/Austria Canon 5d Mk iii + Canon 400/2.8 L USM ii
  • facebook.com/fotomat
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • An instant favorite this one. But I am a little too confused by the setting, and what it is, for this to be a winner. It is otherwise a great profile shot of a jumping rabbit.
  • Photographers Comment
  • So I've missed consideration for a winner because of the setting? Perhaps there should be some space for remarks when uploading :). This urban wildlife shot was made in the middle of Vienna on some rail tracks - what you see in the background are railway traffic lights which gives this setting a very special bokeh. The wild rabbits live there near the Danube river. Not a lot post processing done besides RAW development and some finishing work in Photoshop (tonal correction, curves, saturation, sharpening). Henrik Spranz/Austria Canon 5d Mk iii + Canon 400/2.8 L USM ii
  • facebook.com/fotomat
  • Mark Of Excellence
  • Judges Comment
  • This is a beautiful photograph with plenty artistic appeal. The shapes and space are clever, the subjects fascinating, the focus well placed, drawing in our attention. You have submitted this photo already in the past and the reason for it not winning is the same. These yaks are domestic or at least semi-domestic animals. I don't disagree that they may be in a wild place, or that they may be more difficult to photograph than a tiger in a zoo, but they do not fulfill this competition's guidelines. The same goes for other sometimes lovely photographs submitted in this theme of birds, cattle or goats. Please read the guidelines!