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Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Review: A Wildlife Photographer’s Dream Lens?

06 Sep

The post Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Review: A Wildlife Photographer’s Dream Lens? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Suzi Pratt.

Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 review: a wildlife photographer's dream lens

Tamron just released the 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD lens for Sony E-mount cameras – but while it seems impressive, is it the right lens for you?

In a hands-on Tamron 150-500mm review, we’ll go over the specs, first impressions, and sample photos taken with this zoom lens. It’s Tamron’s first Sony full-frame E-mount lens with Vibration Compensation (VC), and thanks to the built-in image stabilization and the impressive zoom range, it sounds like a wildlife photographer’s dream. But how does it actually perform?

Let’s find out.

Tamron 150-500mm: overview

The Tamron 150-500mm telephoto zoom lens is designed for full-frame Sony E-mount cameras, but it also works with APS-C cameras (for an effective 225-750mm focal length). The lens features a variable aperture of f/5-6.7 to f/22-32 and a front filter size of 82mm.

Pros

Solid design and build

Considering its extreme zoom range, the Tamron 150-500mm is relatively compact. It weighs in at 60.8 ounces (1725 grams) and is 8.3 inches (21 centimeters) long. Like many other telephoto lenses, it extends when zooming. There are several physical switches on the lens, including a focus range limiter, AF/MF switch, VC switch, and VC mode switch. The lens comes with a removable hood and a tripod mount.

Built-in tripod mount

The tripod collar was one of my favorite features, thanks to its Arca-Swiss compatible tripod mount. You can quickly and easily mount the lens to a tripod without fiddling around with the usual tripod plate. Also incorporated into the tripod collar are strap attachment loops. And for those who want to save on some weight, the tripod collar is removable.

Tamron 150-500mm tripod collar

Moisture-resistant

The Tamron 150-500mm offers moisture-resistant construction for shooting in inclement weather conditions. There are leak-resistant seals on the mount and throughout the edges of the lens. And the front lens element includes a fluorine coating to deter dirt, dust, and fingerprints.

Vibration compensation

Historically, the biggest drawback to buying a Tamron lens has been the lack of image stabilization (i.e., Vibration Compensation). Thus, Tamron’s decision to add VC to the 150-500mm is a big deal and goes a long way toward reducing blur caused by camera shake. There are three VC modes on the lens, including Standard (Mode 1), Panning (Mode 2), and Framing Priority (Mode 3). In fact, the inclusion of VC makes this lens more viable not only for still photography but also for video.

Good macro capabilities

Despite being a super-telephoto lens, the Tamron 150-500mm can shoot at impressively high magnifications. It features a minimum object distance (MOD) of 23.6 inches (59.9 centimeters) at the 150mm end and 70.9 inches (180 centimeters) at 500mm. The lens also offers a magnification ratio of 1:3.1 at 150mm. In other words, you can maintain a reasonable shooting distance when capturing macro and close-up images with this lens.

close-up of a sand dollar
194mm | f/6.3 | 1/640s | ISO 400

Compatible with Sony in-camera features

Though it’s a third-party lens, the Tamron 150-500mm plays well with Sony cameras, especially when it comes to autofocus. Not only is the focusing snappy and accurate, but eye autofocus is available on relevant Sony cameras. All in all, the Tamron offers a very similar shooting experience to native Sony lenses.

Good price

The Tamron 150-500mm costs $ 1399 USD, and while this might seem steep, it’s actually a fair price considering the competition (more on that below).

Tamron 150-500mm review moon
500mm | f/6.7 | 1/250s | ISO 320

Cons

Variable aperture

The Tamron 150-500mm uses a variable aperture, which means that the maximum aperture changes based on the focal length. This can be a dealbreaker for those seeking a constant aperture throughout the zoom range – namely, those shooting in low light. However, a constant aperture telephoto lens would cost significantly more and be much larger in size.

Zoom lock

The Tamron 150-500mm has a flex zoom lock that holds the zoom at any focal length by simply pushing the zoom ring forward. Some users might appreciate the convenience, but I found it too easy to activate the flex zoom lock by mistake. My preference is to keep the zoom switch instead, which does the same thing, but is much harder to trigger on accident.

Cannot be used with teleconverters

Many who shoot with telephoto lenses like to add teleconverters for additional focal length reach. Unfortunately, teleconverters are not currently available for use with the Tamron 150-500mm.

Tamron 150-500mm review deer in a field
478mm | f/6.3 | 1/500s | ISO 640

Image quality

Overall, the photos produced with this lens are crisp and sharp (with peak sharpness at f/8). Shooting at such a slow aperture does require ample lighting, and this can potentially affect image quality if you need to raise the ISO in dark shooting conditions.

Because the lens is long and heavy, it is best to use it with a monopod or tripod for maximum sharpness. Vibration Compensation does help when shooting handheld, but the lens is still hard to stabilize without additional assistance.

Great Blue Heron on a post
500mm | f/6.7 | 1/250s | ISO 100

Tamron 150-500mm alternatives

The closest competitors to this lens are the Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 and the Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3. Of these lenses, the Sony is the most expensive (at $ 2,398 USD), and the Sigma is the cheapest (at $ 949 USD).

Both the Sony and the Sigma offer a slightly wider focal length compared to the Tamron but lose out by 100mm on the long end. The Sony 100-400mm’s higher price tag is likely due to lens build, performance, and overall optics. The Sony is also compatible with teleconverters.

Who should purchase the Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7?

The Tamron 150-500mm lens is ideal for wildlife, nature, and sports photographers. You’ll need ample light and a monopod or tripod to get the best performance and image quality – but its flexible focal length range and reasonable price tag make this a no-brainer zoom lens for Sony E-mount shooters.

The post Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Review: A Wildlife Photographer’s Dream Lens? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Suzi Pratt.


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Slideshow: The best entries so far for the 2021 Comedy Wildlife Awards

21 May

The best entries so far for the 2021 Comedy Wildlife Awards

Now in its 7th year, the annual Comedy Wildlife Awards showcases some of the funniest wildlife moments caught on camera. Here are some of the best entries, out of thousands submitted from around the world, so far, that the judges and organizers felt the urge to share with the public.

‘A lot of wildlife shown in these images are facing threats to their populations and habitats that are heart-breaking. With this competition, we wanted to capture people’s attention and energy by giving them a giggle. In order to protect animals, we need people to fall in love with them. We think these wondrous shots show a side of wildlife that we don’t often get to see. They remind us of the beauty, and comedy, in our natural world that needs protecting,’ says Tom Sullam, the competition’s co-founder.

You still have six more weeks to enter the 2021 Comedy Wildlife Awards. Photographers are allowed to submit up to 10 images. The grand prize includes a safari to Maasai Mara in Kenya. 10% of the competition’s total net revenue will be donated to the Save Wild Orangutans charity.

Entry: ‘Bald Eagle Gets a Surprise’ by Arthur Trevino

Location: Hygiene, CO

Animal Description: Bald Eagle & Prairie Dog

Artist Description: When this Bald Eagle missed on its attempt to grab this prairie dog, the prairie dog jumped towards the eagle and startled it long enough to escape to a nearby burrow. A real David vs Goliath story!

Entry: ‘Monday Morning Mood’ by Andrew Mayes

Location: Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa

Animal Description: Pied Starling

Arist Description: I took this shot while photographing a group of Pied starlings perched in a tree at the Rietvlei Nature Reserve in South Africa. It perfectly sums up my mood on most Monday mornings 🙂

Entry: ‘ROFL’ by Giovanni Querzani

Location: Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Animal Description: Young Lion

Artist Description: A young lion in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, who apparently is laughing at my photography skills.

Entry: ‘Quarantine Life’ by Kevin Biskaborn

Location: South Western Ontario, Canada

Animal Description: Raccoon

Artist Description: Isolated inside with your family eager to get out and explore the world? These eastern raccoon kits are too. Just when you think there’s no more room in the tree hollow, mother raccoon appears and displays just how compact the space is. The babies clambered all over their mom and each another, struggling to take a look at the exact same time.

This photo was taken in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. After exploring a particular area with numerous tree hallows, I identified it as a hot spot for raccoon families. Since raccoons will move from den to den, often not spending more than one night at a time in a particular den, locating an area with numerous options is key to locating the animals.

I stumbled across this family and immediately worked on leveling the camera with the hole to prevent an upward angle. When the camera and tripod were ready, the baby raccoons were extremely curious (and cooperative), sticking their heads out for a closer look!

Entry: ‘Yoga Bittern’ by KT Wong

Location: Satay By The Bay, Singapore

Animal Description: Yellow Bittern

Artist Description: A Yellow Bittern was trying very hard to get into a comfortable hunting position. I got this shot when it was between 2 stalks of lotus flower.

Entry: ‘Missed!’ by Lea Scaddan

Location: Perth, Australia

Animal Description: Western Grey Kangaroo

Artist Description: Two Western Grey Kangaroos were fighting and one missed kicking him in the stomach.

Entry: ‘Yay – It’s Friday!’ by Lucy Beveridge

Location: Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

Animal Description: Springbok

Artist Description: A young springbok, all ears and spindly legs, caught in midair while pronking as the sun started to rise over the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. There’s not much information on why the Springbok pronk but some theories suggest it is a way of showing fitness and strength to ward off predators and attract mates. It has also been said that this small, dainty and largely unappreciated antelope also pronks out of excitement, jumping for joy!

Entry: ‘Sweet Lips Are For Kissing’ by Philipp Stahr

Location: Curaçao, Dutch Caribbean

Animal Description: Boxfish

Artist Description: This picture was taken at Curaçao, Dutch Caribbean. Usually box fishes are difficult to take pictures of, since they do not have a problem of a diver coming close, but if you show interest, they always turn the back and not the face to you. That’s why I tried to swim 0.5m above the fish and showing no interest at all to him.

The same time I had my camera not in front of me, but below at my chest pointing to the bottom. When the right moment had come, I turned the camera 90 degrees to the front and just point and shoot, hoping to have the fish in focus. Never expected to have its beautiful lips that close!

Entry: ‘Cranky Hippo’ by Rohin Bakshi

Location: Vwaza Game Reserve, Malawi

Animal Description: Hippo

Artist Description: The baby hippo wanted his mother’s attention, but it seems he wasn’t getting any.

Entry: ‘Happy’ by Tom Svensson

Location: Falklands

Animal Description: Penguin

Artist Description: These penguins was surfing on the waves on to land and looked so happy each time.

Entry: ‘Houston – We’ve Got a Problem!’ by Txema Garcia Laseca

Location: Pantanal (Brazil)

Animal: Amazon Kingfisher

Artist Description: This fish is astonished when has been trapped for a fisher bird.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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See the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award Winners

13 Feb

The post See the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award Winners appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

The Natural History Museum in London just announced their Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award winner plus four highly commended images, and they are stunning.

Over 55,000 votes were cast. Here is the overall favorite photo, “Bushfire,” by Robert Irwin:

Robert Irwin / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Robert Irwin / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

As explained by the Natural History Museum:

“After spotting smoke billowing out of the horizon, Robert knew he had a prime opportunity. Launching his drone, he sent it straight over to the location of the fire. With only a few minutes of battery left, he knew he had to act fast. Taking it right into the thick of the smoke, he managed to frame a clear 50:50 shot, with a pristine natural conservation area on one side juxtaposed with the blackened, devastated remains on the other. Taken near the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve in Cape York, Queensland, the area is of high conservation value and is home to over 30 different ecosystems with many endangered species.”

Robert goes on to comment:

“I am incredibly excited to win the Wildlife Photographer of The Year People’s Choice Award. For me, nature photography is about telling a story to make a difference for the environment and our planet. I feel it is particularly special for this image to be awarded, not only as a profound personal honor but also as a reminder of our effect on the natural world and our responsibility to care for it.”

The four “Highly Commended” images are equally inspiring.

First, Ami Vitale’s heartbreaking photo, entitled “The Last Goodbye:”

Ami Vitale / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Ami Vitale / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

“Joseph Wachira comforts Sudan, the last male northern white rhino left on the planet, moments before he passed away at Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy in northern Kenya. Suffering from age-related complications, he died surrounded by the people who had cared for him. With every extinction we suffer more than loss of ecosystem health. When we see ourselves as part of nature, we understand that saving nature is really about saving ourselves. Ami’s hope is that Sudan’s legacy will serve as a catalyst to awaken humanity to this reality.”

Then Andy Parkinson’s gorgeous image, called “Hare Ball:”

Andy Parkinson / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Andy Parkinson / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

“Andy spent five weeks watching the mountain hares near Tomatin in the Scottish Highlands, waiting patiently for any movement – a stretch, a yawn or a shake – which typically came every 30 to 45 minutes. As he watched, frozen and prostrate, with 50 to 60 mph winds surging relentlessly around him, the cold started to distract and his fingers clasping the icy metal camera body and lens began to burn. Then relief came as this little female moved her body into a perfect spherical shape. A movement of sheer joy. Andy craves such moments: the isolation, the physical challenge and, most importantly, time with nature.”

Next, Guillermo Esteves’s “Close Encounter:”

Guillermo Esteves / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Guillermo Esteves / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

“The worried-looking expression on this dog’s face speaks volumes and is a reminder that moose are large, unpredictable wild animals. Guillermo was photographing moose on the side of the road at Antelope Flats in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA, when this large bull took an interest in the furry visitor – the driver of the car unable to move it before the moose made its approach. Luckily, the moose lost interest and went on its way after a few moments.”

And finally, Neil Parkinson’s “Drey Dreaming:”

Neil Parkinson / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Neil Parkinson / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

“As the weather grew colder, two Eurasian red squirrels (only one is clearly visible) found comfort and warmth in a box Neil had put up in one of the pine trees near his home in the Scottish Highlands. In the colder months, it’s common for the squirrels, even when unrelated, to share dreys. After discovering the box full of nesting material and in frequent use, Neil installed a camera and LED light with a diffuser on a dimmer. The box had a lot of natural light so he slowly increased the light to highlight his subjects – and using the WiFi app on his phone he was able take stills from the ground.”

The Natural History Museum in London is currently closed. But when it reopens, you’ll be able to view the physical images – along with other Wildlife Photographer of the Year photos – in person.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.

The post See the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award Winners appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


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dPS Top Nature and Wildlife Photography Tips of 2020

31 Dec

The post dPS Top Nature and Wildlife Photography Tips of 2020 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

top nature and wildlife photography tips of 2020

Do you want to improve your nature and wildlife photography, fast?

Then take a look at our best nature and wildlife photography tips from 2020. They’re packed full of helpful advice, all designed to help you capture stunning photos!

Starting with our most popular nature photography article of the year:

1. 5 Camera Settings Every Bird Photographer Should Know

5 Camera Settings Every Bird Photographer Should Know

2. 10 Must-Use Bird Photography Camera Settings for Beginners

10 Must-Use Bird Photography Camera Settings for Beginners

3. How to Take Vibrant, Razor-Sharp Macro Photos of Flowers

How to Take Vibrant, Razor-Sharp Macro Photos of Flowers

4. Tips for Doing a Backyard Photo Safari

Tips for Doing a Backyard Photo Safari

5. Macro Photography for Beginners

Macro Photography for Beginners

6. 10 Incredible Bird Photography Tips for Beginners

10 Incredible Bird Photography Tips for Beginners

7. Photographing on Your Home Patch and Why You Need One

Photographing on Your Home Patch and Why You Need One

8. How to Choose the Best Lens for Wildlife Photography

How to Choose the Best Lens for Wildlife Photography

9. How to Photograph Beautiful Winter Snowdrops (or Other Flowers)

How to Photograph Beautiful Winter Snowdrops (or Other Flowers)

10. Nature and Wildlife Photography Tips for Beginners

Nature and Wildlife Photography Tips for Beginners

11. 10 Ideas for Photographing Nature in Your Backyard

10 Ideas for Photographing Nature in your Backyard

12. How to Photograph Sun Flares: 14 Tips for Beginners

How to Photograph Sun Flares: 14 Tips for Beginners

13. 10 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

10 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

14. 6 Tips for Near-Macro Photography With a Telephoto Lens

6 Tips for Near-Macro Photography with a Telephoto Lens

15. Tips for Photographing Birds in Flight

Tips for Photographing Birds in Flight

Conclusion

I hope you’ve enjoyed these nature and wildlife photography tips!

And if you want to keep improving your photos, make sure you subscribe to the dPS newsletter. We’ll send you weekly tips, tricks, and techniques – so that you can take your photos to the next level as quickly as possible!

The post dPS Top Nature and Wildlife Photography Tips of 2020 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


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Slideshow: People’s Choice Award finalists for Wildlife Photographer of the Year

03 Dec

People’s Choice Award finalists for Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition has selected 25 finalist photos for its People’s Choice Award. Now it’s up to the public to vote for the overall winner. Anyone can participate in the process until February 2nd at 14:00 GMT.

Over 49,000 images were submitted to this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. 100 images were chosen as winners or finalists by the panel of judges. An additional 25 photos have been set aside for this latest shortlist. Make sure you view the gallery, read the rules, and cast a vote for your favorite image before the deadline.

The winner and top 4 highly commended images will be revealed on February 9th. An exhibit of all shortlisted images across the entire Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition will be on display through July 4th.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘The Alpha’ by Mogens Trolle

About this Photo: Of all the different primate species Mogens has photographed, the mandrill has proved the most difficult to reach, preferring to hide in tropical forests in remote parts of Central Africa.

This made the experience of sitting next to this impressive alpha, as he observed his troop above, even more special. When a male becomes alpha, he undergoes physical changes that accompany a rise in testosterone levels, and this results in the colors on his snout becoming much brighter. With the loss of status, the colors fade. Mogens used a flash to enhance the vivid colors and textures against the dark forest background.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘Life Saver’ by Sergio Marijuán Campuzano

About this Photo: As urban areas grow, like Jaen in Spain, threats to wildlife increase, and Iberian lynx have become a casualty of traffic accidents as they too seek to expand their own territories.

In 2019, over 34 lynx were run over, and three days before Sergio took this photo a two-year-old female lost her life not far from this spot. To combat mortality on the roads, improvements in the fencing and the construction of under-road tunnels are two proven solutions, and they are a lifeline for many other creatures as well as lynx.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘Shut the Front Door’ by Sam Sloss

About this Photo: This coconut octopus was spotted walking around the black sand of the Lembeh Strait, Sulawesi carrying its house made of shells.

Remarkably, this small octopus constructs its own protective shelter using clam shells, coconuts, and even glass bottles! These intelligent creatures are very picky when it comes to choosing the perfect tools. They know that certain types and sizes of shell have their advantages, whether they be for shelter, camouflage, or concealing themselves from both prey and predator alike. It is safe to say that the coconut octopus is certainly one of the most scrappy, resourceful, and brainy creatures in the ocean.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘Backstage at the Circus’ by Kirsten Luce

About this Photo: At the Saint Petersburg State Circus, bear trainer Grant Ibragimov performs his daily act with three Siberian brown bears.

The animals rehearse and then perform under the lights each evening. In order to train a bear to walk on two feet, Kirsten was told that they are chained by the neck to the wall when they are young to strengthen their leg muscles. Russia and Eastern Europe have a long history of training bears to dance or perform, and hundreds of bears continue to do so as part of the circus industry in this part of the world.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘Drawn and Quartered’ by Laurent Ballesta

About this Photo: Scraps of grouper flesh fall from the jaws of two grey reef sharks as they tear the fish apart.

The sharks of Fakarava Atoll, French Polynesia, hunt in packs, but do not share their prey. A single shark is too clumsy to catch even a drowsy grouper. After hunting together to roust the grouper from its hiding place in the reef, the sharks encircle it, but then compete for the spoils – only a few sharks will have a part of the catch and most of them will remain unfed for several nights.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘Coexistence’ by Pallavi Prasad Laveti

About this Photo: A cheeky Asian palm civet kitten peeps from a bag in a small remote village in India, curiosity and playfulness shining in its eyes.

This baby was orphaned and has lived its short life in the village backyard – comfortable in the company of locals, who have adopted the philosophy of ‘live and let live.’ Pallavi sees the image as one of hope, for in other parts of the world the civets are trapped for Kopi Luwak coffee production (coffee made from coffee beans that are partially digested and then pooped out by the civet) – where they are contained in tiny, unsanitary battery cages and force fed a restricted diet of coffee beans. She feels this image portrays a true essence of cohabitation.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘Border Refuge’ by Joseph Dominic Anthony

About this Photo: Joseph formed the idea for this photograph in 2016 on a visit to Mai Po Nature Reserve in Hong Kong.

Taken within the Frontier Closed Area on the Chinese border, strictly timed access rules meant years of studying tide tables and waiting for the perfect weather. Joseph wanted to convey the story and mood of Mai Po in a single balanced photograph, combining individuals and the behavior of multiple species in the context of their wider environment, particularly to juxtapose the proximity of the ever encroaching urban development.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘White Danger’ by Petri Pietiläinen

About this Photo: While on a photography trip to the Norwegian archipelago, Svalbard, Petri had hoped to spot polar bears.

When one was sighted in the distance on a glacier, he switched from the main ship to a smaller rubber boat to get a closer look. The bear was making its way towards a steep cliff and the birds that were nesting there. It tried and failed several routes to reach them, but perseverance, and probably hunger, paid off as it found its way to a barnacle goose nest. Panic ensued as the adults and some of the chicks jumped off the cliff, leaving the bear to feed on what remained.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘Resting Dragon’ by Gary Meredith

About this Photo: The Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia is home to a wide variety of wildlife, which exists alongside man-made mining operations.

The wildlife found in this environment needs to adapt to the harsh, hostile living conditions. When the opportunity arises, the long-nosed dragon makes use of human structures. This individual positioned itself on a piece of wire mesh outside a workshop, waiting for the sun’s rays. The artificial light source outside the building attracts moths and insects, easy prey for a hungry lizard.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘Close Encounter’ by Guillermo Esteves

About this Photo: The worried looking expression on this dog’s face speaks volumes and is a reminder that moose are large, unpredictable, wild animals.

Guillermo was photographing moose on the side of the road at Antelope Flats in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA, when this large bull took an interest in the furry visitor – the driver of the car unable to move it before the moose made its approach. Luckily, the moose lost interest and went on its way after a few moments.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘Licence to Kill’ by Britta Jaschinski

About this Photo: Britta’s photographs of items seized at airports and borders across the globe are a quest to understand why some individuals continue to demand wildlife products, even if this causes suffering and, in some cases, pushes species to the brink of extinction.

This zebra head was confiscated at a border point in the USA. Most likely, the hunter was not able to show proof that the zebra was killed with a license. Britta found the use of a shopping trolley to move the confiscated item ironic, posing the question: wildlife or commodity?

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘Turtle Time Machine’ by Thomas Peschak

About this Photo: During Christopher Columbus’s Caribbean voyage of 1494, green sea turtles were said to be so numerous that his ships almost ran aground on them.

Today the species is classified as endangered. However, at locations like Little Farmer’s Cay in the Bahamas, green turtles can be observed with ease. An ecotourism project run by fishermen (some who used to hunt turtles) uses shellfish scraps to attract the turtles to the dock. Without a time machine it is impossible to see the pristine turtle population, but Thomas hopes that this image provides just a glimpse of the bounty our seas once held.

Shortlisted Photograph: ‘Bushfire’ by Robert Irwin

About this Photo: A fire line leaves a trail of destruction through woodland near the border of the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve in Cape York, Queensland, Australia.

The area is of high conservation significance, with over 30 different ecosystems found there, and is home to many endangered species. The fires are one of the biggest threats to this precious habitat. Although natural fires or managed burns can be quite important in an ecosystem, when they are lit deliberately and without consideration, often to flush out feral pigs to hunt, they can rage out of control and have the potential to devastate huge areas.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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5 Tips for Photographing Wildlife in Low Light Conditions

08 Nov

The post 5 Tips for Photographing Wildlife in Low Light Conditions appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Will Nicholls.

NOTE: Check out our Ultimate Guide to Nature and Outdoor Photography.

Most wildlife is active during dawn or dusk, and photographing animals in low light can be frustrating when you’re pushing your equipment to the limit. Even if you’re shooting on the latest and greatest DSLR camera, you’re still going to reach a point where the light is too low to use the ideal settings. It’s at this point that you need to start calling on your skill and technique to improve your success rate.

Here are a few tricks that I use in my own wildlife photography to get better, more usable images in low light.

roe deer in low light

1. Choose the perfect aperture and shutter speed for low light

When shooting in low light, you should use the widest aperture you can (i.e., the lowest f-number) to let in the most light possible.

If you’re using expensive telephoto lenses, then you’ll probably have a maximum aperture of f/4 or even f/2.8. However, the majority of midrange and budget telephoto lenses have a maximum aperture of about f/5.6 or f/6.3. Still, keep the aperture as wide as possible to give yourself the optimum baseline.

With regard to the shutter speed, the rule most people learn is to use a speed of at least 1 over the focal length of your lens. For example, a 400mm lens would need a shutter speed of at least 1/400s to eliminate camera shake effectively. However, this rule often isn’t possible in low light conditions. So you’re going to need to break it!

Drop your shutter speed as much as you can while still keeping the image sharp. You can go much slower than you think. 1/100s is totally plausible.

To prevent camera shake, enable any image stabilization technology offered by your lens. It’s important to use a tripod, too, as it’ll keep things steady.

wildlife low light
This bear photo was taken at 1/30s, f/4, and ISO 8000.

Try panning

Once your shutter speed starts to get really slow, then you’ll almost definitely introduce motion blur from the subject moving. But if your subject is walking or running along, you can pan your camera along with it.

With practice, you can move your camera at the same rate as the animal and freeze its body – even with a slow shutter speed. You will get a blurred background, but it’s actually a rather cool effect (see the bear photo above!).

2. Don’t be afraid to boost your ISO

ISO might be the most feared setting among photographers. However, it shouldn’t make you tremble! I meet many photographers who don’t move the ISO above 400, even if their cameras are more than capable of handling the increase.

Sure, higher ISOs introduce noise into your photo, but a noisy image is better than a blurred one.

Test out your camera and see how far you can feasibly increase the ISO before shots become unusable. You can also remove noise in post-production, so you can sometimes salvage a too-noisy image.

The image below was taken at ISO 5000, but you’d be forgiven for thinking the value was much, much lower. The camera in question was a Nikon D4, which has notoriously good ISO capabilities. But this is an extreme example, and at ISO 5000 there was still noise. Even lower-level DSLR cameras can still be pushed to ISO 1600 or so while achieving fairly good quality images.

eagle in low light
An eagle photo taken at 1/100s, f/4, and ISO 5000.

Be brave and increase your ISO when you need a faster shutter speed. It’ll help you keep shooting as the light gets lower, meaning you’ll have more time to wait for wildlife!

3. Be careful when using a zoom lens

Zoom lenses sometimes use a variable maximum aperture.

What does this mean?

Zoomed out, you may have an aperture of f/4 – but as you zoom in, this can increase to something like f/6.3. If your lens has a constant aperture throughout, then you don’t need to worry. But if it doesn’t, then be conscious of the fact that you’ll have less light reaching the sensor when you’re zoomed in.

When your lens is limited by a variable maximum aperture, think about zooming out and taking a more atmospheric or environmental image. You’ll have a larger aperture to play with, and you may be able to achieve a more usable shot than if you zoom in all the way with less light.

bear in environment
If your lens has a variable aperture, try zooming out to utilize the widest option and take environmental images that don’t focus only on the animal.

4. Utilize burst mode

Don’t forget that you have a burst mode. If you’re worried about blurry images, fire off as many frames as possible. This will increase your chances of ending up with a usable shot.

You see, slower shutter speeds mean more chance for both camera blur and motion blur. If an animal moves its head, your shot may well be ruined. But if you’ve been shooting multiple images at once (via burst mode!), then chances are that you’ll get another shot, taken a fraction of a second later, that isn’t blurred.

Burst mode is honestly one of the most useful things you can do when photographing wildlife in low light. It really helps to get usable photos and works like magic alongside the other techniques in this article.

5. Don’t underexpose

It can be tempting to underexpose your photo, knowing that you can brighten it later. While this may give you a quicker shutter speed, the photo will likely need significant brightening in post-production. And lightening an already-dark scene will introduce a lot of digital noise.

low light wildlife photography
This photo was taken at 1/60s, f/4, and ISO 5000.

Instead, try to keep your exposure as balanced as possible. If you can keep your histogram happy, then you’ll have a smoother ride through the editing process. The worst thing would be to take an underexposed shot, only to find out later that it’s unusable because brightening it up ruins it.

I prefer to risk blur but fire multiple frames than to take an underexposed, sharp shot. Maybe that’s just me, but the technique frequently works in my favor.

Photographing wildlife in low light: conclusion

No matter how good you are at photography or how good your gear is, you’re going to have times when your shots are ruined by low light. That’s just part of the game – but, with luck, you will manage to capture strong low light shots some of the time.

With practice, you’ll learn when there’s no point battling against depleting light levels. And a combination of the techniques I’ve shared here should keep you in action for longer.

Do you have any other low light tips to add? Please share them in the comments below!

FURTHER READING: Check out our new Ultimate Guide to Nature and Outdoor Photography.

The post 5 Tips for Photographing Wildlife in Low Light Conditions appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Will Nicholls.


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3 Lightroom Tools to Enhance Your Nature and Wildlife Photography

21 Oct

The post 3 Lightroom Tools to Enhance Your Nature and Wildlife Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Shreyas Yadav.

Do you want to bring out texture in your images of flowers, butterflies, plants, or macro subjects?

Are you looking to remove haze from your beautiful landscape images?

Do you want to reveal fine detail in your wildlife images?

Then you’re in the right place.

lightroom tools nature photography mountain

Because today I am going to share with you three Lightroom tools for nature photography. I use these three tools to enhance my own nature and wildlife images. And I am sure these tools will be helpful to you, as well.

And the best part is?

All of these Lightroom tools are easy to apply. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an intermediate-level photographer; you can pick up these tools and start enhancing your nature images right away.

Note that these three Lightroom tools can be applied to an overall image (as a global adjustment) or to a targeted area of the image (as a local adjustment).

Let’s do this!

The 3 Lightroom tools for nature photography

Here are the three Lightroom tools that will instantly enhance your nature photos:

  • Texture
  • Clarity
  • Dehaze

To access these tools, head to the Develop Module, find the Basic Panel, and scroll down to Presence:

develop module lightroom tools nature photography
The Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze sliders in Adobe Lightroom.

Texture

Texture has a subtle sharpening effect. It brings out the finer details.

You can use the Texture tool in Lightroom to subtly add sharpening to flowers, patterns, plants, and more.

By default, the Texture slider is set to “0.” Drag the texture slider to the right to increase the texture effect.

Or drag the Texture slider to the left to reduce its effect.

Here is an example of the Texture slider in action. First, take a look at this chameleon photo without any added texture:

Chameleon before the texture slider is applied in Lightroom
Before applying the Texture slider.

Then, as you increase the texture, the chameleon details appear sharper:

Chameleon after texture slider is applied in Lightroom lightroom tools nature photography
After applying the Texture slider.

Here’s a final before and after:

texture slider before and after lightroom tools nature photography
The effect of the Texture slider (before and after).

Clarity

The effect of the Clarity slider is more prominent than the effect of the Texture slider.

What does Clarity do?

It primarily increases the midtone contrast.

Now, the Clarity slider is set to “0” as a default.

To add Clarity, drag the slider to the right:

the clarity slider in Lightroom
The Clarity slider is a useful Lightroom tool for nature photography.

To reduce the effect, drag the Clarity slider to the left.

Since the effect of the Clarity slider is strong, make sure you use Clarity in moderation.

If you capture a well-exposed image with a relatively centered histogram, then the Clarity slider will improve the midtone contrast and can bring out additional details in your picture.

Here’s an image without the Clarity slider applied:

bird before the Lightroom Clarity slider is used
Before applying the Clarity slider.

As well as its corresponding histogram:

the histogram in Lightroom
The histogram before applying the Clarity slider.

And here’s the image with the Clarity slider applied:

The bird with the Clarity tool applied
After applying the Clarity slider.

And its corresponding histogram:

the histogram in Lightroom after the Clarity slider has been used
The histogram after applying the Clarity slider.

As Clarity increases, the midtone contrast increases, too; notice how the center of the histogram has expanded.

Additionally, after increasing the Clarity, details on the bird have begun to pop.

Dehaze

The Dehaze slider is quite helpful for landscape images.

When out photographing, you may end up with haze in the atmosphere. Additionally, fog or rain will make an image look hazy.

You can use the Dehaze slider to reduce the haze.

To apply the Dehaze effect (and reduce the haze), drag the Dehaze slider to the right:

the Dehaze slider in Lightroom
The Dehaze slider in Lightroom.

To reduce the Dehaze effect (and increase the haze), drag the Dehaze slider to the left.

As you increase the Dehaze effect, haze in the picture will be reduced, and the overall saturation of the image will increase. If the saturation increases too much, then bring down the Saturation slider slightly.

Note that the Dehaze slider will shift the histogram to the left (toward the side of the histogram representing the darker tones in the image).

When I was photographing the scene below, there was mist and drizzle over the forest valley. Here’s the image prior to applying the Dehaze effect:

mountain landscape before the Dehaze tool is applied
Before applying Dehaze.

And here’s the same image, but with the Dehaze effect applied:

the mountain landscape after the Dehaze tool is used
After applying Dehaze.

As I increased the value of the Dehaze slider, the haze was reduced. The difference between the original and edited images is quite significant.

You can also use the Dehaze slider for early-morning images, wildlife during the winter season, photos captured in the rain, and wildlife captured from a distance.

The elephants pictured below were moving along the riverbank. I was photographing them from a boat at a far distance, it was evening, and there was a slight fog in the atmosphere, hence the image appears a bit hazy:

two elephants before the Dehaze tool is used
Before applying Dehaze.

But, thanks to the Dehaze slider, the haze in the picture is reduced:

two elephants after the Dehaze slider is used
After applying Dehaze.

The Lightroom tools for local adjustments

There you go!

Those are the three Lightroom tools for nature photography that will instantly enhance your photos.

But here’s one more thing you should know:

Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze aren’t only available as global adjustments. They’re available as local adjustments, too.

You can apply local adjustments using a Graduated Filter, a Radial Filter, or an Adjustment Brush.

As you apply your local adjustments, you can shift the Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze sliders.

Let me give you an example. Here’s an unedited image:

An unedited road

After making global adjustments in Adobe Lightroom, I used a local (targeted) adjustment on the sky:

the road with a targeted adjustment applied

On the stormy clouds:

the road with another targeted adjustment applied

And on the road passing through the grassland:

the road with a third targeted adjustment applied

Note that these local adjustments include the Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze sliders.

Here is the final image:

final edited road with storm clouds using lightroom tools nature photography
The final, post-processed image.

So you can use these three tools when adding local adjustments, too!

Lightroom tools for nature photography: Conclusion

I hope these three Lightroom tools will help you enhance your nature and wildlife images.

Now I would like to hear from you:

Which of these Lightroom tools for nature photography are you going to try first?

Let me know by leaving a comment below.

The post 3 Lightroom Tools to Enhance Your Nature and Wildlife Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Shreyas Yadav.


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10 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

18 Oct

The post 10 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Guest Contributor.

A guest post by wildlife photographer Morkel Erasmus.

wildlife photography tips

Ever since DSLRs became readily available, more photography enthusiasts have started venturing into wildlife photography.

It seems that wildlife photography, in conjunction with landscape photography, has really seen a huge growth spurt over the last few years, at least as it pertains to the number of people practicing it as serious hobbyists or budding professionals.

This is especially true in my native country of South Africa, where it’s long been many a family’s tradition to visit legendary self-drive safari locations such as Kruger National Park. Having neighboring countries like Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe doesn’t affect this trend negatively!

Yet spend some time on your favorite online photography forum (at least those that allow the posting of photos) or on other sites like Facebook or Flickr where photosharing is common, and you might notice that not every photo taken of a wild animal really speaks to you.

I’m not sure whether many folks just snap away and hope the image comes out half-decent, or whether many just think they’re doing their subjects justice (when that is not at all the case). Let me say outright that no offense is intended, and I also take photos that fall into the above categories.

In fact, I do it on every photographic trip I take.

But it’s stepping beyond that and getting a rare wildlife image that ticks all the right boxes that we all need to strive for. And we must be prepared when the opportunity comes along.

zebras fighting

In today’s article, I will attempt to provide you with some easy-to-apply tips and advice for improving your wildlife photography.

Some of these tips might seem like common sense, and you’ve probably read a similar list of “how-tos” elsewhere. But remember that common sense is not so common at all these days and that everyone has their own take on things, however similar it may be.

I do think I will cover a few points that are not just based on pure technical skill; photography is, after all, an art-form. Sometimes we need to be freed up to capture the vision we have in our mind’s eye, rather than stick to conventions and norms.

Here is a quick overview of the points I will cover in this article:

  1. Know your gear
  2. Know the wildlife
  3. Know the wildlife photography “rules;” break the wildlife photography “rules”
  4. Work the light
  5. Shoot wider; shoot closer
  6. The more, the merrier
  7. How low can you go?
  8. The content-technical dichotomy
  9. Patience isn’t a virtue; it’s a necessity
  10. Be there and enjoy it

These are the points that I try to cover when leading a photographic safari or presenting a workshop.

(Also note that I include the genre of bird photography in my definition of wildlife photography.)

Let’s get cracking!

a wildlife photography example of a lion on a dune

1. Know your gear

This sounds like the biggest cliché, but you know that it’s true.

The really great, action-packed moments in wildlife photography last, on average (based on my experience), between 5 and 20 seconds. If you are not deeply familiar with the settings of your camera or the abilities of your chosen lens, you will either miss the shot or blow the images you do manage to capture.

Here’s what’s important:

  • Know the minimum shutter speed at which you can obtain a sharp image with your camera/lens combo
  • Know any added margins that the in-camera or in-lens stabilization gives you
  • Know how to quickly toggle between focus points or focus modes
  • Know how high you can push your camera’s ISO setting and still achieve acceptable results

In general, I like to say that you need to be able to make most, if not all, of the necessary adjustments to your exposure/focus settings without lifting your eye from the viewfinder.

The action you see between the cheetahs in the following image lasted all of 10 seconds, even though we sat with them for more than an hour:

cheetahs playing

2. Know the wildlife

This goes without saying, right? Since much of wildlife photography is based upon capturing fleeting moments of natural history (read: interesting poses or behavior), it pays to be able to somewhat predict your subject’s behavior beforehand.

Granted, not every species is as predictable as the next. But there are patterns of behavior ingrained into every animal species. Knowing your subject can make the difference between being ready and prepared for capturing that “golden moment” and watching in agony as it flies by.

Now, there is only one way to get to know wildlife:

Spend time with it. Don’t just hang around for a few minutes and seek out the next subject if the one you are observing or photographing isn’t delivering the goods. Sit with wildlife. Watch wildlife. Wait.

(This also ties into patience, which I will discuss in more detail later.)

This image was captured by knowing what the Lilac-breasted Roller was going to do to its grasshopper-lunch, and being ready for it:

roller eating lunch

3. Know the wildlife photography “rules;” break the wildlife photography “rules”

There are certain unwritten rules that form the foundation of good photography, regardless of genre. And, of course, then there are certain “rules” that find their application mostly in the genre of wildlife photography.

Understanding proper exposure and the use of the histogram, as well as creating proper compositions using a guideline such as the rule of thirds, are all important to ingrain in your subconscious. You want to be able to instantly capture that fleeting moment properly.

In wildlife photography, much is made about eye contact with the subject, as this gives life to the image. In the case of avian photography (birds), you can take this a step further: the head angle in relation to the camera’s imaging sensor needs to be at least perpendicular to it, but ideally turned a few degrees towards the sensor (and therefore turned towards the viewer, who ultimately gets to view the image captured by the sensor).

The image below, for example, follows strong rule-of-thirds compositional guidelines:

wildebeest on a dune as stunning wildlife photography

Once you know the “rules” and the guidelines, and once you know when and how to apply them, it’s time to start breaking them. You should test the boundaries a bit, you know? You don’t want your photos to always look like the standard images that every photographer is getting.

Take a look at the image below. I mentioned the “need” for eye contact. Yet sometimes it can work to shoot an image in which the subject is not giving the photographer eye contact (this often means the animal is busy with something else and too busy to turn its attention to you).

thirsty Zebra foal makes for intimate wildlife photography

4. Work the light

The first piece of advice I got from a professional wildlife photographer when I started shooting is to stick to the hours of golden light.

This means getting up early in the morning and being in the field before sunrise, and going out in the afternoon to make the most of the last hours of sunlight. The light at midday (mostly between 11:00 and 16:00, at least where I live) is generally harsh and robs images of that spunk that they need. The exception is on overcast days, when the clouds act like a massive softbox and filter out the light evenly.

On days like that, I shoot all day (as long as there are willing subjects!).

Since photography is all about painting with light, you need to know how to use the light to your advantage in wildlife photography. Often, we will find ourselves in a position where the light isn’t ideal or, heaven forbid, the light is sweet but from the wrong direction (and we aren’t in a position to move to a better spot).

The good news is that light from the wrong direction can add lots of mood to an image. Shooting into the light is tricky to pull off, but if you adhere to my first tip (to know your gear), you can get some pretty interesting images from a less-than-ideal light position. The image below is one such photo:

backlit sprinboks at dawn

5. Shoot wider; shoot closer

Too many wildlife photographers get fixated on what I call the “focal-length debacle,” where it becomes an obsession to have the longest/biggest lens possible.

Now, I know this is location-dependent, as you might need more than 600mm just to get any shot at all in certain wide-open spaces. But the issue I want to tackle is more related to our obsession to get as close as possible to the animals and isolate them totally from their environment. The result is often an image that looks like it could be taken of a captive subject in a controlled location, with a perfectly smooth background and no idea of the real environment in which the animal finds itself.

Instead, challenge yourself to shoot at a wider angle to give the viewer a better idea of where you took the image and where your subject has to eke out a living in the wild. This is applicable to any species you photograph, from a squirrel to a deer to an elephant.

The elephant below was photographed with a wide-angle lens and a polarizing filter to give you a sense of the environment, as well as to make the most of the clouds and sky:

elephant in the landscape as wildlife photography

The flip side to shooting wider is (you guessed it!) shooting closer.

And I mean way closer. Get in-your-face close (by changing your position or by using a longer lens with an optional teleconverter) to create different and interesting studies of the animals and birds you photograph. This will also help you think in terms of more abstract compositional arrangements.

Have a look at this photo of a Cape buffalo, for example:

buffalo abstract close-up of ear

6. The more, the merrier

No real intricate explanation needed on this one. In wildlife photography, one is company and two is often a crowd, especially when there’s food or shelter involved. If you have a good view of more than one member of a species, stay a while!

Look at the images below. First up: a solitary African spoonbill, minding its own business on a perch, happy as can be. Throw another spoonbill into the mix, and you have a recipe for good interaction:

spoonbills in the trees; the more the merrier wildlife photography tip

7. How low can you go?

This is not a trick question, nor is it a call to do the limbo. The point of view of a wildlife photograph is just about everything. How you portray your subject can make all the difference in the world.

In short, try to get an eye-level perspective (or go even lower if you can). This brings the viewer of your image right into the scene and confronts them with the view of the world from your subject’s perspective.

Obviously, what counts as eye-level is relative (you will pretty much always be at a lower perspective than a giraffe, for example), but you get the idea.

Always bear in mind the constraints of your environment. In most reserves in South Africa, you are not allowed to get out of your vehicle in the field. This restricts you to a certain perspective.

Look at the images below for illustration. The first African painted dog was photographed from an open game viewer. The result is a somewhat bland shot; it’s nothing special to my eyes.

The second image, however, was taken lying flat on my stomach in a sandy riverbed not 20 meters from the pack of canines, and the alpha male was checking me out. This perspective makes the image come alive.

wild dogs

8. The content-technical dichotomy

This is an interesting one. Does great content trump a technically great image that includes average content every time?

It may be different where you live, but I am particularly relating this one to the African safari experience. Every tourist wants to see the “big 5,” or at least a lion. But if you’ve ever spent time around wild lions in the daytime, you will know that they are actually shoddy models for photography. They sleep up to 20 hours per day.

Conversely, I have had great photo opportunities from impala, who are the most common ungulate you’ll come across down here in the bush. My advice to the discerning photographer would be to look for great opportunities regardless of the species when the light is good!

Have a look at the contrast between these two images: an impala jumping gracefully and a “standard” portrait of a male lion, both in good light. Which do you prefer?

a lion (above) and a leaping impala (below)

Let’s use a second example, lest it look like I am becoming blasé about the subjects I am fortunate to be able to photograph in our wonderful part of the world:

Squirrels.

Everyone photographs squirrels, right? In the images below, the top squirrel is munching something with nice soft light and a nice low angle. And at the bottom, a mommy is carrying her youngster at a precarious height over a large branch at speed by biting down on the youngster’s stomach flap with it holding on for dear life. The light in the tree canopy wasn’t the best, but this is clearly a case of content trumping a technically good image.

squirrels

The jury is still out on this one. Awesome sightings of lions won’t always provide awesome images. Learn to see the potential in the mundane to create amazing photographic moments, then go out and make good images.

The obvious ideal is to capture a wildlife image with great content in great light shot with just the right settings: the utopian photo that most of us will never get right.

9. Patience isn’t a virtue; it’s a necessity

As a wildlife photographer, your images are predicated on the fact that things in nature are unpredictable.

Anything can happen at any time, but most things happen only rarely. Or, at the very least, they rarely coincide with the exact time that you are in that specific spot.

It is therefore imperative that you become patient. Very patient.

Now, I sometimes catch myself being very impatient out in the field. It’s something you constantly have to work on.

In fact, it’s almost a culmination of many of the things we’ve discussed so far. Observing your subjects and getting to know their behavioral patterns requires a great deal of patience.

Often, the implication is that you need to return to the same spot for days before things start to happen. And even if you do that, you run the risk of nothing happening and wasting your time.

The image below was captured after staking out the tree with the impala kill for more than five hours. I had also driven past this tree many times earlier that day to see if there was any action. I knew the leopard would return, but I had no guarantee that it would return before nightfall.

a leopard ascends a tree to find its kill

10. Be there and enjoy it

I will conclude this lengthy article with the following advice (I do hope you haven’t been bored to tears reading this!):

Be there and enjoy it!

running cheetah wildlife photography example

By this, I don’t just mean that you need to physically show up and be at the right place at the right time (although of course that applies).

I actually mean that you need to be present in the moment. Don’t get so caught up in the technical issues and your settings that you don’t take in the moments you are witnessing while out photographing birds and wildlife. We need to be mindful of the privilege of spending time in nature and being in places where humans haven’t quite exerted their full force.

landing kingfisher wildlife photography example

Maybe for you this is just the most isolated spot in your local park where you can sit and observe and photograph squirrels and birds. Or maybe it’s facing a wild Kodiak bear on the Alaskan floodplains.

giraffe with a rainbow in the background wildlife photography

Regardless, enjoy what you are doing! Have fun doing it! How does it help us to spend so much time on this amazing hobby cum art form if we are not enjoying the time spent?

I hope these wildlife photography tips will stand you in good stead out there in the field. They have for me. Good light and good sightings to you all!

About the author: Morkel Erasmus

After having been an avid naturalist from a very young age, picking up a camera for the first time early in 2009 proved to be a pivotal moment in the life of Morkel Erasmus. Since then, he has been infused with an unbridled passion for capturing forever fleeting moments of natural history and sharing them with people to showcase the wonderful natural heritage of his native Southern Africa, and to create awareness to conserve this heritage for future generations.

“I absolutely love being in the wild and unspoiled places of this world,” says Morkel, “and living in South Africa means there are plenty of those to choose from.”

An industrial engineer by profession and an accomplished artist across many genres, from music to poetry, Morkel has always enjoyed whatever allows him to express his creativity to the fullest. Photography turned out to be the perfect marriage of his engineering brain and artistic soul. Showing off God’s glorious creation is something he enjoys immensely. He is also a Nikon South Africa ambassador.

Besides being widely published, Morkel has been honored for his commitment to his craft with various awards in the short span of his photographic career, most notably by receiving a “Highly Commended” award for one of his images in the 2010 BBC Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Morkel is a devoted husband and a proud father of a beautiful daughter and soon-to-be-born son.

See more from Morkel on his homepage or blog, and connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, 500px, and on Instagram.

The post 10 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Guest Contributor.


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Slideshow: Winners of the 2020 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition

18 Oct

Winners of the 2020 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition

Over 49,000 images were submitted to the 56th annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, put on by the Natural History Museum in London. The Duchess of Cambridge and Patron of the museum, Kate Middleton, announced the Grand Title Winner during the live-streamed ceremony which aired on October 13th.

Sergey Gorshkov spent over 11 months on his overall winning image, ‘The Embrace,’ depicting the rare sighting of an Amur tigress hugging a Manchurian fir. ‘Hunted to the verge of extinction in the past century, the Amur population is still threatened by poaching and logging today. The remarkable sight of the tigress immersed in her natural environment offers us hope, as recent reports suggest numbers are growing from dedicated conservation efforts,’ says Dr. Tim Littlewood – Natural History Museum’s Executive Director of Science.

All winning images will be showcased in an exhibition at the Natural History Museum, starting October 16th. Entries for the next Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition are open on Tuesday, October 19th.

GRAND TITLE WINNER: ‘The Embrace’ by Sergey Gorshkov (Russia)

Sergey Gorshkov/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: With an expression of sheer ecstasy, a tigress hugs an ancient Manchurian fir, rubbing her cheek against bark to leave secretions from her scent glands. She is an Amur, or Siberian, tiger, here in the Land of the Leopard National Park, in the Russian Far East. The race – now regarded as the same subspecies as the Bengal tiger – is found only in this region, with a small number surviving over the border in China and possibly a few in North Korea.

Hunted almost to extinction in the past century, the population is still threatened by poaching and logging, which also impacts their prey – mostly deer and wild boar, which are also hunted. But recent (unpublished) camera?trap surveys indicate that greater protection may have resulted in a population of possibly 500–600 – an increase that it is hoped a future formal census may confirm. Low prey densities mean that tiger territories are huge.

Sergey knew his chances were slim but was determined to take a picture of the totem animal of his Siberian homeland. Scouring the forest for signs, focusing on trees along regular routes where tigers might have left messages–scent, hairs, urine or scratch marks–he installed his first proper camera trap in January 2019, opposite this grand fir. But it was not until November that he achieved the picture he had planned for, of a magnificent tigress in her Siberian forest environment.

Gear and Settings: Nikon Z-7 + 50mm f1.8 lens; 1/200 sec at f6.3; ISO 250; Cognisys camera-trap system.

Winner, Animal Portraits: ‘The Pose’ by Mogens Trolle (Denmark)

Mogens Trolle/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: A young male proboscis monkey cocks his head slightly and closes his eyes. Unexpected pale blue eyelids now complement his immaculately groomed auburn hair. He poses for a few seconds as if in meditation. He is a wild visitor to the feeding station at Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary in Sabah, Borneo–‘the most laid-back character,’ says Mogens, who has been photographing primates worldwide for the past five years.

In some primate species, contrasting eyelids play a role in social communication, but their function in proboscis monkeys is uncertain. The most distinctive aspect of this young male –sitting apart from his bachelor group –is, of course, his nose. As he matures, it will signal his status and mood (female noses are much smaller) and be used as a resonator when calling. Indeed, it will grow so big that it will hang down over his mouth –he may even need to push it aside to eat.

Found only on the island of Borneo and nearby islands, proboscis monkeys are endangered. Eating mainly leaves (along with flowers, seeds and unripe fruit), they depend on threatened forests close to waterways or the coast and –being relatively lethargic –are easily hunted for food and bezoar stones (an intestinal secretion used in traditional Chinese medicine). Mogens’ unforgettable portrait, with the young male’s characteristic peaceful expression–‘quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen on another monkey’–connects us, he hopes, with a fellow primate.

Gear and Settings: Canon EOS-1D X + 500mm f4 lens; 1/1000 sec at f7.1; ISO1250; Manfrotto tripod + Benrogimbal head.

Winner, Behavior, Amphibians and Reptiles: ‘Life in Balance’ by Jaime Culebras (Spain)

Jaime Culebras/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: A Manduriacu glass frog snacks on a spider in the foothills of the Andes, northwestern Ecuador. As big consumers of invertebrates, glass frogs play a key part in maintaining balanced ecosystems. That night, Jaime’s determination to share his passion for them had driven him to walk for four hours, in heavy rain, through the forest to reach the frogs’ streams in Manduriacu Reserve. But the frogs were elusive and the downpour was growing heavier and heavier. Ashe turned back, he was thrilled to spot one small frog clinging to a branch, its eyes like shimmering mosaics.

Not only was it eating – he had photographed glass frogs eating only once before –but it was also a newly discovered species. Distinguished by the yellow spots on its back and lack of webbing between its fingers, the Manduriacu frog is found only in this small area. The reserve is private but seriously threatened by mining activities permitted by the government (open-pit mining for gold and copper), as well as illegal logging, and the new frog is considered critically endangered.

Serenaded by a frog chorus in torrential rain – he held his umbrella and flash in one hand and the camera in the other – Jaime captured the first ever picture of this species feeding.

Camera + Settings: Sony ILCE-7M3 + 90mm f2.8 lens; 1/100 sec at f16; ISO 320; Yongnuo flash + trigger; softbox.

Winner, Behavior, Birds: ‘Great Crested Sunrise’ by Jose Luis Ruiz Jiménez (Spain)

Jose Luis Ruiz Jiménez/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: After several hours up to his chest in water in a lagoon near Brozas, in the west of Spain, Jose Luis captured this intimate moment of a great crested grebe family. His camera floated on a U-shaped platform beneath the small camouflaged tent that also hid his head. The grebes are at their most elegant in the breeding season–ornate plumage, crests on their heads, neck feathers that they can fan into ruffs, striking red eyes and pink-tinged bills. They build a nest of aquatic plant material, often among reeds at the edge of shallow water.

To avoid predators, their chicks leave the nest within a few hours of hatching, hitching a snug ride on a parent’s back. Here the backlings will live for the next two to three weeks, being fed as fast as their parents can manage. Even when a youngster has grown enough to be able to swim properly, it will still be fed, for many more weeks, until it fledges.

This morning, the parent on breakfast duty – after chasing fish and invertebrates under water–emerged with damp feathers and a tasty meal, just when not a breath of wind rippled the water and the stripy-headed chick stretched out of its sanctuary, open?beaked, to claim the fish. In soft light and muted reflections, Jose Luis was able to reveal the fine detail of these graceful birds and their attentive parental care.

Camera + Settings: Nikon D4S + 600mm f4 lens + 1.4x teleconverter; 1/800 sec at f6.3; ISO 500; floating hide.

Winner, Behavior, Invertebrates: ‘A Tale of Two Wasps’ by Frank Deschandol (France)

Frank Deschandol/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: This remarkable simultaneous framing of a red-banded sand wasp (left) and a cuckoo wasp, about to enter next-door nest holes, is the result of painstaking preparation. The female Hedychrum cuckoo wasp –just 6 millimetres long (less than 1/4inch) – parasitizes the nests of certain solitary digger wasps, laying her eggs in her hosts’ burrows so that her larvae can feast on their eggs or larvae and then the food stores.

The much larger red-banded sand wasp lays her eggs in her own burrow, which she provisions with caterpillars, one for each of her young to eat when they emerge. Frank’s original aim was to photograph the vibrant cuckoo wasp, its colors created by the refraction of light from its cuticle (tough enough to withstand the attack of the wasps it parasitizes). In a sandy bank on a brownfield site near his home in Normandy, northern France, he located tiny digger wasp burrows suitable for a cuckoo wasp to use and out of full sun, which would have let too much light into the camera.

He then set up an infrared beam that, when broken by a wasp, would trigger the super fast shutter system he had built using an old hard drive and positioned in front of the lens (the camera’s own shutter would have been too slow). Despite the extremely narrow depth of field and tiny subjects, he captured not only the cuckoo wasp but also the sand wasp. Though these two species don’t regularly interact, Frank was gifted a perfectly balanced composition by the insects’ fortuitous flight paths to their nest holes.

Camera + Settings: Canon EOS 5D Mark II + 100mm f2.8 lens + close-up 250D lens + reverse-mounted lens; 5 sec at f13; ISO 160; customized high-speed shutter system; six wireless flashes + Fresnel lenses; Yongnuo wireless flash trigger; Keyence infrared sensor + Meder Reed relay +amplifier; Novoflex MagicBalance + home-made tripod.

Winner, Under Water: ‘The Golden Moment’ by Songda Cai (China)

Songda Cai/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: A tiny diamondback squid paralarva flits below in the blackness, stops hunting for an instant when caught in the light beam, gilds itself in shimmering gold and then moves gracefully out of the light. The beam was Songda’s, on a night?dive over deep water, far off the coast of Anilao, in the Philippines. He never knows what he might encounter in this dark, silent world.

All sorts of larvae and other tiny animals –zooplankton–migrate up from the depths under cover of night to feed on surface-dwelling phytoplankton, and after them come other predators. Diamondback squid are widespread in tropical and subtropical oceans, preying on fish, other squid and crustaceans near the surface. In November, hundreds gather off Anilao to spawn.

A paralarva is the stage between hatchling and subadult, already recognizable as a squid, here 6–7 centimetres long (21/2inches). Transparent in all stages, a diamondback squid swims slowly, propelled by undulations of its triangular fins (the origin of their name), but by contracting its powerful mantles, it can spurt away from danger.

Chromatophores (organs just below the skin) contain elastic sacs of pigment that stretch rapidly into discs of color when the muscles around them contract; recent research suggests that they may also reflect light. Deeper in the skin, iridophores reflect and scatter light, adding an iridescent sheen. From above, Songda captured the fleeting moment when, hovering in perfect symmetry, the diamondback paralarva turned to gold.

Camera + Settings: Nikon D850 + 60mm f2.8 lens; 1/200 sec at f20; ISO 500; Seacam housing; Seaflash 150D strobes; Scubalamp lights.

Winner, Earth’s Environments: ‘Etna’s River of Fire’ by Luciano Gaudenzio (Italy)

Luciano Gaudenzio/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: From a great gash on the southern flank of Mount Etna, lava flows within a huge lava tunnel, re-emerging further down the slope as an incandescent red river, veiled in volcanic gases. To witness the scene, Luciano and his colleagues had trekked for several hours up the north side of the volcano, through stinking steam and over ash-covered chaotic rocky masses –the residues of past eruptions. A wall of heat marked the limit of their approach.

Luciano describes the show that lay before him as hypnotic, the vent resembling ‘an open wound on the rough and wrinkled skin of a huge dinosaur’. It was 2017, and he had been on the nearby island of Stromboli to photograph eruptions there when he heard news of the new vent on what is Europe’s largest volcano. He took the very next ferry, hoping he would arrive in time to see the peak of the latest show.

Mount Etna, which lies on the boundary between the African and Eurasian continental plates, has been erupting continuously for almost 30 years, with shows that include lava flows and lava fountains – just the most recent phase in 15,000 years of volcanic activity, but a warning of its power.

What Luciano most wanted to capture was the drama of the lava river flowing into the horizon. The only way to do that was to wait until just after sunset–‘the blue hour’–when contrasting shadows would cover the side of the volcano and, with a long exposure, he could set the incandescent flow against the blue gaseous mist to capture ‘the perfect moment.’

Camera + Settings: Canon EOS 5D Mark III + 24mm f3.5 lens; 1 sec at f16; ISO 320; Leofoto tripod + ball head.

Winner, Wildlife Photojournalism, Single Image: ‘Show Business’ by Kirsten Luce (United States)

Kirsten Luce/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: One hand raised signaling the bear to stand, the other holding a rod, the trainer directs the ice-rink show. A wire muzzle stops the polar bear biting back, and blue safety netting surrounds the circus ring. It’s a shocking sight–not because of the massive predator towering over the petite woman in her ice-skating outfit but because of the uneven power dynamic expressed by the posture of the bear and the knowledge that it is not performing by choice.

But for the visitors to the traveling Russian circus –here in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan – it is entertainment. They are ignorant of how the polar bear has been trained and what it might endure behind the scenes – including the fact that, when not performing, it probably spends most of its time in a transportation cage. The polar bear is one of four females, reportedly captured in Russia’s Franz Josef Land when two years old (‘abandoned’, according to the trainer) and still performing 18 years later – valuable property for the Circus on Ice, the only circus known to own polar bears.

For the photographer, who has spent a couple of years reporting on animal exploitation and abuse, this was the most symbolically shocking of all the scenes of exploitation she has shot, featuring as it does such an Arctic icon of wildness.

Camera + Gear: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV + 70–200mm f2.8 lens; 1/500 sec at f4; ISO 2000.

Winner, Wildlife Photojournalist Story Award: ‘Backroom Business’ by Paul Hilton (United Kingdom/Australia)

Paul Hilton/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: A young pig-tailed macaque is put on show chained to a wooden cage in Bali’s bird market, Indonesia. Its mother and the mothers of the other youngsters on show, would have been killed. Pig?tailed macaques are energetic, social primates living in large troops in forests throughout Southeast Asia. As the forests are destroyed, they increasingly raid agricultural crops and are shot as pests. The babies are then sold into a life of solitary confinement as a pet, to a zoo or for biomedical research.

Having convinced the trader that he was interested in buying the monkey, Paul photographed it in the dark backroom using a slow exposure. Much of the illegal wildlife in the open?air bird market is traded in the backroom areas. Macaques can be legally sold; banned species such as baby orangutans are kept boxed out of sight. Such animal markets facilitate the international illegal trade, supplying on demand what isn’t in stock. So many animals stacked so close together also facilitates the spread of disease.

Camera + Gear: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II + 16–35mm lens at 16mm; 1/10sec at f3.2; ISO 1600.

Winner, Rising Star Portfolio: ‘Eleonora’s Gift’ by Alberto Fantoni (Italy)

Alberto Fantoni/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: On the steep cliffs of a Sardinian island, a male Eleonora’s falcon brings his mate food – a small migrant, probably a lark, snatched from the sky as it flew over the Mediterranean. These falcons – medium-sized hawks – choose to breed on cliffs and small islands along the Mediterranean coast in late summer, specifically to coincide with the mass autumn migration of small birds as they cross the sea on their way to Africa.

The males hunt at high altitudes, often far offshore, and take a wide range of small migrants on the wing, including various warblers, shrikes, nightingales and swifts. Outside the breeding season, and on windless days when passing migrants are scarce, they feed on large insects. When the chicks are fledged, they all head south to overwinter in Africa, mainly on Madagascar.

Alberto was watching from a hide on San Pietro Island, from where he could photograph the adults on their cliff-top perch. He couldn’t see the nest, which was a little way down the cliff in a crevice in the rocks, but he could watch the male (much smaller and with yellow around his nostrils) pass on his prey, observing that he always seemed reluctant to give up his catch without a struggle.

Camera + Gear: Canon EOS 7D Mark II + 500mm f4.5 lens; 1/2000 sec at f7.1 (+1 e/v); ISO 800; hide.

Winner, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio Award: ‘The Last Bite’ by Ripan Biswas (India)

Ripan Biswas/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: These two ferocious predators don’t often meet. The giant riverine tiger beetle pursues prey on the ground, while weaver ants stay mostly in the trees–but if they do meet, both need to be wary. When an ant colony went hunting small insects on a dry riverbed in Buxa Tiger Reserve, West Bengal, India, a tiger beetle began to pick off some of the ants. In the heat of the midday sun, Ripan lay on the sand and edged closer.

The beetle’s bulging eyes excel at spotting invertebrate prey, which it sprints towards so fast that it has to hold its antennae out in front to avoid obstacles. Its bright orange spots – structural color produced by multiple transparent reflecting layers–may be a warning to predators that it uses poison (cyanide) for protection. At more than 12 millimetres long (half an inch), it dwarfed the weaver ants. In defence, one bit into the beetle’s slender hind leg. The beetle swiftly turned and, with its large, curved mandibles, snipped the ant in two, but the ant’s head and upper body remained firmly attached.

‘The beetle kept pulling at the ant’s leg,’ says Ripan, ‘trying to rid itself of the ant’s grip, but it couldn’t quite reach its head.’ He used flash to illuminate the lower part of the beetle, balancing this against the harsh sunlight, as he got his dramatic, eye-level shot.

Camera + Gear: Nikon D5200 + Tamron 90mm f2.8 lens; 1/160 sec at f8; ISO 160; Viltrox ring flash.

Winner, 10 Years and Under: ‘Perfect Balance’ by Andrés Luis Dominguez Blanco (Spain)

Andrés Luis Dominguez Blanco/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: In Spring, the meadows near Andrés’ home in Ubrique, in Andalucia, Spain, are bright with flowers, such as these sweet-scented sulla vetches. Andrés had walked there a few days earlier and seen European stonechats hunting for insects, but they were on the far side of the meadow. He regularly sees and hears stonechats, their calls like two stones tapping together.

They are widespread throughout central and southern Europe, some – such as those around Andrés’ home–resident year round, others overwintering in northern Africa. Andrés asked his dad to drive to the meadow and park so he could use the car as a hide, kneel on the back seat and, with his lens on the window sill, shoot through the open windows. He was delighted to see stonechats flying close by, alighting on any stem or stalk as a vantage point to look for worms, spiders and insects.

It was already late in the day, and the sun had gone down, but it seemed that the low light intensified the birds’ colors. He watched this male closely. It often landed on branches or the top of small bushes, but this time it perched on a flower stem, which began to bend under its delicate weight. The stonechat kept perfect balance and Andrés framed his perfect composition.

Camera + Gear: Fujifilm X-H1 + XF 100–400mm f4.5–5.6 lens; 1/50 sec at f5.6; ISO 800.

Winner, 11 – 14 Years Old: ‘A Mean Mouthful’ by Sam Sloss (Italy/United States)

Sam Sloss/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: On a diving holiday in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sam stopped to watch the behavior of a group of clownfishes as they swam with hectic and repeated patterns in and out and around their home, a magnificent anemone. He was intrigued by the expression of one individual, the result of its mouth being constantly open, holding something.

Clownfish are highly territorial, living in small groups within an anemone. The anemone’s stinging tentacles protect the clownfish and their eggs from predators – a clownfish itself develops a special layer of mucus to avoid being stung. In return, the tenants feed on debris and parasites within the tentacles and aerate the water around them and may also deter anemone?eating fish.

Rather than following the moving fish in his viewfinder, Sam positioned himself where he knew it would come back into the frame. It was only when he downloaded the photos that he saw tiny eyes peeping out of its mouth. It was a ‘tongue-eating louse’, a parasitic isopod that swims in through the gills as a male, changes sex, grows legs and attaches itself to the base of the tongue, sucking blood. When the tongue withers and drops off, the isopod takes its place. Its presence may weaken its host, but the clownfish can continue to feed.

Sam’s image, the reward for his curiosity, captures the three very different life forms, their lives intertwined.

Camera + Gear: Nikon D300 + 105mm f2.8 lens; 1/250 sec at f18; ISO 200; Nauticam Housing + two INON Z-240 strobes.

Winner, 15 – 17 Years Old: ‘The Fox that Got the Goose’ by Liina Heikkinen (Finland)

Liina Heikkinen/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Artist Statement: It was on a summer holiday in Helsinki that Liina, then aged 13, heard about a large fox family living in the city suburbs on the island of Lehtisaari. The island has both wooded areas and fox-friendly citizens, and the foxes are relatively unafraid of humans. So Liina and her father spent one long July day, without a hide, watching the two adults and their six large cubs, which were almost the size of their parents, though slimmer and lankier.

In another month, the cubs would be able to fend for themselves, but in July they were only catching insects and earthworms and a few rodents, and the parents were still bringing food for them –larger prey than the more normal voles and mice. It was 7pm when the excitement began, with the vixen’s arrival with a barnacle goose.

Feathers flew as the cubs began fighting over it. One finally gained ownership–urinating on it in its excitement. Dragging the goose into a crevice, the cub attempted to eat its prize while blocking access to the others. Lying just metres away, Liina was able to frame the scene and capture the expression of the youngster as it attempted to keep its hungry siblings at bay.

Camera + Gear: Nikon D4 + 28–300mm f3.5–5.6 lens; 1/125 sec at f5.6 (-0.3 e/v); ISO 1600.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Slideshow: Finalists for the 2020 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

12 Sep

Finalists for the 2020 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards recently announced its 44 top images for 2020. Finalists include a smiley fish, a fox in negotiations with a mouse, and a photobombing giraffe. Founded by photographers and conservationists Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, the global competition is free to enter and aims to showcase the funniest takes on animals in the wild.

The top prize includes a week-long safari in Kenya. There is also a People’s Choice Award that anyone can vote for by clicking on their favorite image. Category and Overall Winners, chosen by a panel of judges including the competition founders, along with the Telegraph’s online travel editor, Oliver Smith, will be announced October 22nd.

Finalist: ‘Smiley’ by Arthur Telle Thiemenn

Animal: Sparisoma cretense

Location of Shot: El Hierro, Canary Islands

Finalist: ‘Tough Negotiations’ by Ayala Fishaimer

Animal: Fox

Location of Shot: Israel

Finalist: ‘Spreading the Wildlife Gossip’ by Bernhard Esterer

Animal: Lions

Location of Shot: Kalahari Desert

Finalist: ‘Crashing into the Picture’ by Brigitte Alcalay Marcon

Animal: Giraffe

Location of Shot: Etosha National Park, Nambia

Finalist: ‘I Could Puke’ by Christina Holfelder

Animal: Gentoo penguin

Location of Shot: Falkland Islands

Finalist: ‘The Inside Joke’ by Femke van Willigen

Animal: Eurasian red squirrel

Location of Shot: Espelo, the Netherlands

Finalist: ‘Lamentation!’ by Jacques Poulard

Animal: Polar bear

Location of Shot: Spitzberg, Germany

Finalist: ‘Like Mother, Like Daughter’ by Jagdeep Rajput

Animal: Asian elephant

Location of Shot: Corbett National Park, India

Finalist: ‘Just Chillin” by Jill Neff

Animal: Racoon

Location of Shot: Jackson, Ohio, USA

Finalist: ‘I Think this Tyre’s Gonna be Flat’ by Kay Kotzian

Animal: Grizzly bears

Location of Shot: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA

Finalist: ‘Having a Laugh’ by Ken Crossan

Animal: Common seal

Location of Shot: Caithness, Scotland

Finalist: ‘Wait up Mommy, Look What I Got for You!’ by Kunal Gupta

Animal: Elephant

Location of Shot: Kaziranga, India

Finalist: ‘Terry the Turtle Flipping the Bird’ by Mark Fitzpatrick

Animal: Turtle

Location of Shot: Lady Elliot Island, Queensland Australia

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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