Every year theWildlife Photographer of the Yearcompetition gathers together a record-breaking number of submissions from all over the world and whittles down some really fantastic images to the final winners. This year is no different.
The winners have now been declared and as you’d imagine they’re truly magnificent. These photos show nature at its finest and worst too. Demonstrateing a breadth of undeniable photography talent for us to admire.
We’ve been through the submissions and pulled out some of our favourites. These include amazing photos from this year and previous years too. With thePeople’s Choice Awardas well as the images from theGrand title winners,Adult awardsandYoung awardstoo.
To see the very best, you canvisit the exhibition at the Natural History Museum.
Deep Feelers
These narwhal shrimps are seen captured fantastically against a beautiful blue backdrop.
From the underwater category comes this wonderful photo that was selected as a highly commended entry.
Photographer Jonny Armstrong followed this fox for several days before taking this incredible image with a stormy backdrop.
The result was another highly commended image, this time in the animal portrait category.
The photo shows the aftermath of overfishing. A boat had caught too many fish and the net broke, spilling tonnes of dead fish into the surrounding water.
Not all the images in the competition show the beauty of nature, sometimes they show man’s destruction of it. Like with this image by Audun Rikardsen.
The photo shows the aftermath of overfishing. A boat had caught too many fish and the net broke, spilling tonnes of dead fish into the surrounding water. One good thing came from the photo though, as it was used to take the owner of the boat to court to answer for problem.
Elephants at Twilight
With this imageand more than 30 years of photography work, Frans Lanting was given the “Wildlife Photographer of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2018. A peaceful scene in the evening at the waterhole.
“One evening during Botswana’s dry season, I waded into a water hole to capture a shimmering reflection of a gathering of elephants at twilight, with a full moon suspended in a luminous pink sky. The image is my homage to the primeval qualities of southern Africa’s wilderness, the grandeur of elephants, and the precious nature of water in a land of thirst.”
The golden couple
This image was snapped by Marsel van Oosten and was chosen from the submissions asthe Grand title winner, earning him the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018.
“As the group of Qinling golden snub-nosed monkeys jumped from tree to tree, Marsel struggled to keep up, slipping and stumbling over logs. Gradually he learned to predict their behaviour, and captured this male and female resting. With the Sun filtering through the canopy, they are bathed in a magical light, their golden hair glowing against the fresh greens of the forest.
This pair belongs to a subspecies of golden snub-nosed monkey restricted to the Qinling Mountains. Among the most striking primates in the world, these monkeys are in danger of disappearing. Their numbers have steadily declined over the decades and there are now fewer than 4,000 individuals left.”
Lounging leopard
The other Grand title winner, Skye Meake won the title of Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018 for this image of a rather relaxed looking leopard.
The other Grand title winner, Skye Meake wonthe title of Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018for this image of a rather relaxed looking leopard.
“Notoriously shy and elusive, the resident leopards of the Mashatu Game Reserve are hard to spot. But this time Skye was in luck. After tracking the leopards for a few hours, he came across Mathoja – a well-known female. In a fleeting moment, just before the leopard nodded off, Skye captured a peaceful portrait of this majestic creature.
Named by local guides, Mathoja means ‘the one that walks with a limp’ – a title given to her after a serious leg injury as a cub. Although her chances of survival were slim, Mathoja is now a healthy adult. She is one of the lucky ones – this species has been classed as vulnerable and many leopards are illegally hunted for their highly desirable skins.”
All that remains
One of the submissions from the LUMIX People’s Choice Award comesfrom Phil Jonesand shows the scavenging side of nature as a bird comes into feast on a decaying Sea Lion.
“A male orca had beached itself about a week before Phil’s visit to Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands. Despite its huge size the shifting sands had almost covered the whole carcass and scavengers, such as this striated caracara, had started to move in.”
Family portrait
This incredible portrait of a grey owl and her family was snapped by Connor Stefanison and is included in the LUMIX People’s Choice Award category in 2018.
Not your average family photo, but certainly a magnificent one.This incredible portraitof a grey owl and her family was snapped by Connor Stefanison and is included in the LUMIX People’s Choice Award category.
“A great grey owl and her chicks sit in their nest in the broken top of a Douglas fir tree in Kamloops, Canada. They looked towards Connor only twice as he watched them during the nesting season from a tree hide 50 feet (15 metres) up.”
Love is in the air or is it under water? This photo shows a sperm whale getting a bit frisky but not having much luck. A brilliantly timedunderwater image by Franco Banfi.
“Franco was free diving off Dominica in the Caribbean Sea when he witnessed this young male sperm whale trying to copulate with a female. Unfortunately for him her calf was always in the way and the frisky male had to continually chase off the troublesome calf.”
Curious Encounter
This unbelievably well-timed photo shows an amazing encounter with a seal in Antarctica.
Another incredible andunbelievably well-timed photoshows an amazing encounter with a seal in Antarctica. We wonder if the seal was as surprised to see the photographer as he appeared.
“Any close encounter with an animal in the vast wilderness of Antarctica happens by chance, so Cristobal was thrilled by this spontaneous meeting with a crabeater seal off of Cuverville Island, Antarctic Peninsula. These curious creatures are protected and, with few predators, thrive.”
