GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2020 winners
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Members of the Society for Nature Photography have selected the GDT Nature Photographer of the Year. The 7th annual competition received 5,046 submissions from 307 GDT (German Society of Nature Photography) members across 11 countries. Peter Lindel was declared the Overall Winner with ‘A Hare’s Dream.’
‘The European hare, once a common inhabitant of open country all over Germany, has become a rare sight. While the large number of hares that I used to spot every morning on my way to work in the fields and meadows North of Dortmund, prompted me twelve years ago to explore this area with my camera, it has now become increasingly time-consuming to find hares and present them in an appealing photograph,’ Lindel explains.
For the first time, voting was conducted online instead of a general meeting on account of the pandemic. 70 winners and finalists were selected by judges and members for the following categories: Birds, Mammals, Other Animals, Plants and Fungi, Landscapes, Nature’s Studio, and the Special Category: Water. All winning and finalist photographs can be viewed here.
While GDT Nature Photographer of the Year is open to the society’s members only, GDT’s European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is open to all photographers residing in Europe.
Overall Winner: ‘A Hare’s Dream’ by Peter Lindel
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About this photo: ‘A hare’s dream was taken in July of 2019 when months of
searching a suitable location led me to a dirt road, which offered the most
beautiful morning light, lovely vegetation and … three hares. Dreamy,
curious, careful, anxious. These are the adjectives that I find describe the
expression of “my hare” best,’ says Lindel.
Winner, Other Animals: ‘Danger in the Mud’ by Jens Cullmann
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About this photo: Crocodile in a drying mud pool.
Winner, Nature’s Studio: ‘Flooded with Light’ by Jan Piecha
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About this photo: A blackbird perches on a branch in North Hesse, Germany.
Winner, Landscapes: ‘Magic Light’ by Benjamin Waldmann
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About this photo: Tree in the mist at the Albtrauf.
Winner, Birds: ‘Take-off’ by Flurin Leugger
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About this photo: Coyote panics geese.
2nd Place, Mammals: ‘Glowing Fox’ by Mohammed Murad
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About this photo: Arabian red fox in Kuwait City.
2nd Place, Special Category, Water: ‘Milk and Honey’ by Sandra Bartocha
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About this photo: Reflection of the chalk coast, England.
4th Place, Special Category, Water: ‘Poseidons Wrath’ by Christian Wappl
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About this photo: A top-down view of Waves, La Palma.
5th Place, Nature’s Studio: ‘Refraction’ by Burkhard Hillert
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About this photo: Refraction of light in the cobweb.
10th Place, Atelier Natur: ‘Iceland Going Abstract’ by Uwe Hasubek
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About this photo: Painting of a river, Iceland.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)