Wildlife photographer of the year 2009 winner announced

[cutecoot]

I can't find the starling pic

[matt_xyz]

I was very familiar with the winning wolf image because an almost identical image (by the same photographer) was highly commended in another prominent wildlife photography competition. I remember discussing the merits of that first wolf photo on another forum at that time. Here's the image from the other competition;

Photo Competition Winners - Nature photography - images from the Wild Wonders of Europe.

what's interesting is that the WPOTY rules state:
"A picture that has won a prize in another competition, which receives more than 500 images, is not eligible for entry. The competition is looking for images which are new and unique and if a picture has been widely seen before it may count against it during the judging process."

Now technically it didn't win the other competition but was highly commended, but it was certainly a familiar image to those of us interested in these sorts of competitions. It is a great image though, so I have no problems in that regard.

There are some very nice images in WPOTY but I'm also perhaps a little underwhelmed. But then maybe our expectations are becoming unrealistic. Fergus' image is nice, although I'm not sure we can continue to call him 'our' Fergus as he hasn't visited WAB for some months.

Matt

[cutecoot]

Wow, that photo of the kingfisher that was runner up in the WWE comp is something else!

[acherontia]

Congratulations to Fergy! I will now try to look at some more of his work . His star will be well and truly on the ascendent now he has won this - as was/is one of OH's fellow 'Wildie' students who was highly commended in this category a couple of years ago. I guarantee he is far,far to busy building his future career to visit at the moment

Re the wolf - the emphasis in this comp is on the 'er' of the title. Therefore dedication also enters into the factors for winning as well as the end result.
One thing does worry me though - these comps seem to be getting more and more preclusive for even the most dedicated of amateurs. So much emphasis on the time spent and the range of equipment needed seems to make it difficult for those who aren't already professional or have plenty of money to spend on time, equipment and exotic travel.

I do like the winning image though.

Acher

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by cutecoot

I can't find the starling pic

Winner of the black & white category: Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year - Online gallery - don't miss it!

Dave P.

[John D]

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

Magic photographs. I think the Wolf is a worth winner too, I just love it. How many times would a Wolf jump over that fence in a year? and how many times would it take you to get "the perfect" shot even when it did? Worthy winner imo. On the other hand taking nothing away from the Yellowhammer its not too difficult to shoot 500 pics a day of this subject if you set your stall. It is a great picture dont get me wrong, but the fact that you get a lot more goes at it makes it less difficult to get that perfect shot. Extremley difficult, but less difficult. Well done to all. Oh I liked the Starling pic too.

Hi Fudgey,
Do you honestly think someone sat at the gate waiting on a fox jumping over it. A great deal of research went into the foxes habits before a camera with an automatic trip was set in place. Now Fergus didn't have that, he obviously saw the chance of a good shot and took it, albeit possibly in a series of shots. That's what we all try to do. Some folks are just better at it than others. For a 16 year old it was an excellent shot and in my opinion a worthy winner.
The trouble with these competitions are that not all participents are playing on a level playing field and there are so many variations of 'technical equipment' available, not to mention time and cost. Maybe the rules should be such that equipment used be limited to basic camera and associated gear as used by most everyday photographers.

John D

http://johnswildworld.zenfolio.com/

[PMG]

Originally Posted by John D

Hi Fudgey,
Do you honestly think someone sat at the gate waiting on a fox jumping over it. A great deal of research went into the foxes habits before a camera with an automatic trip was set in place. Now Fergus didn't have that, he obviously saw the chance of a good shot and took it, albeit possibly in a series of shots. That's what we all try to do. Some folks are just better at it than others. For a 16 year old it was an excellent shot and in my opinion a worthy winner.
The trouble with these competitions are that not all participents are playing on a level playing field and there are so many variations of 'technical equipment' available, not to mention time and cost. Maybe the rules should be such that equipment used be limited to basic camera and associated gear as used by most everyday photographers.

John D

Zenfolio | John D's Wild World

Exactly John There is a place for every conceivable way of obtaining a photograph and there should be categories for those ways that make this competition fair for all who enter. Photography and the way it is achieved has moved on with digital and suddenly there are more ways to produce a winning pic than there used too be - but this should be taken into account. I'm not decrying the winner at all - its a fabulous shot and probably took more time and effort to prepare for than anyone sat in hide night after night. But for this method to win two years on the trot just gives the message to photographers with cameras and no time sensors to pack up our gear and go ......... certainly I won't want to 'pad out' their competition next year with my pics while they settle on yet another night-time sensor shot .............

[pressld2]

An interesting debate...

I must admit, being a bit geeky that way, that I always look at the details of kit used and the settings. There are one or two surprises there. For example Mimmi Widstrand of Sweden used a Nikon D3 + AF-S VR Nikkor 500mm f4G lens. Not surprising on it's own but she (or possibly he) was highly commended in the Ten Years and Under category! How many ten-year-olds do you know that can tote around over £10,000 of equipment?

At the other end of the scale though, Louis de Montfort used a Sony Cyber-shot DSC F828 for his highly commended spider monkey in the 11-14 section. So it is still possible for the amateurs and enthusiasts among us to make an impact.

Maybe they could consider splitting the comp into amateur and pro sections, although that would possibly lead to arguments of the definition of pro. And anyway, many amateurs are taking shots as good as or better than the pros these days, and with the same level of kit, so I'm not sure that the distinction has much meaning.

Dave P.

[DrNickBurton]

Originally Posted by pressld2

An interesting debate...

many amateurs are taking shots as good as or better than the pros these days, and with the same level of kit, so I'm not sure that the distinction has much meaning.

Dave P.

That's right, attempts to make those kinds of distinctions would unravel pretty quickly.

Nevertheless, undeniably, it's not a level playing field. This applies to photo competitions in general, not just WPY. I think, for example, that some subject matter is over-represented just because there is a perception that it is exotic. Example: a stunningly good shot of a duck has little chance of getting anywhere as compared to relatively mundane shots of Leopards, Lions etc.

Put me in front of a Lion in Africa and give me a D3+200-400mm and I can take mundane Lion portraits too. It's just a question of money, not talent.

On the other hand, I know that no matter how hard I tried, I would not be able to get the wolf shot, which is one reason why it impresses me so much.

[Badllarma]

I love the images, the cat and fox the jury is out on but the rest are very special, with regards to IR triggers it's just another tool in the box any one can set one anywhere and get........................nothing really, or their gear nicked

The skill is the knowledge of the subject, it's environment, light and timing the shot which is what wildlife photography is all about IMO

If you go down the more tradition route you could the argue we should all be still shooting film with box brownies! The tech moves on, the tools move on but you still need to know your stuff about the subject, environment, lighting and timing to get the image.

On the plus side on all our travels we may start to find kit just lying around the woods waiting for someone to take it to a nice warm home! LOL

[acherontia]

The fact that a 10 yr old winner had £10,000 worth of equipment speaks volumes......and I totally agree with Dr Thingummy on the playing field being unlevel.

As regards the cat/fox image - the selective focussing (a nice way of putting it) is on a non wild animal and the wild one is way out.
I think this may fall under the 'conceptual' umbrella. Is it a statement of man's influence on the world infringing on the welfare of wildlife, is it wildlifw at bay blah blah blah blah.............
Or is it just a chance grab shot that wasn't on the correct f number or correct subject matter LOL We'll never know

Acher

[Badllarma]

But you could argue that are you saying give any 10 years old 10k's worth of kit and they will get the image??

I know plenty of adults I could give 20k worth of kit too and the images will still be rubbish!!

Maybe juniors family has not had any holidays for a number of years so mum and dad can buy junior the kit he wants, maybe there loaded and 10k is what junior get for Christmas every year Or maybe junior loves his wildlife and goes with dad every week into the woods, hide...............with dads camera dad see the shot and lets junior take it...........who knows

To say it's all down to the kit is wrong though.

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by Badllarma

To say it's all down to the kit is wrong though.

Agreed! But to say the kit has no bearing on the matter is equally wrong in my opinion.

No amount of kit is worth anything in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it. But a D3 with 500mm prime opens up possibilities that simply don't exist for the guy with the Sony Cybershot (or even me with my D300 and 80-400mm zoom for that matter).

So no, it's not all down to the kit. But it is partly down to the kit.

Dave P.

[acherontia]

Originally Posted by Badllarma

But you could argue that are you saying give any 10 years old 10k's worth of kit and they will get the image??

I know plenty of adults I could give 20k worth of kit too and the images will still be rubbish!!

To say it's all down to the kit is wrong though.

As far as I can see I don't think anyone was suggesting that there was no skill involved - only that time and money is an added advantage to a skilled or gifted individual.

I know from experience that one of the worst things someone can say to an experienced photographer is -
'You must have a good camera to take photographs like that'

Acher

[loripo]

He has more of the beautiful yellowhammer phots on his website...
see scottishnaturephotography dot com

and other beauties too.

[gez]

You can have the best oven in the world. But it dont mean you can bake bread!
gez

[hammock monkey]

At first I thought the wolf pic was a slight gyp but looking back at it, its incredible, the more I look at it the better it gets.

The yellowhammer pic is also so beautiful, makes me think its a slight shame when the fun gets taken out of the whole thing. To think things of this beauty go on around us all the time and we only ever see the tiniest glimpse.