Now in its 54th year, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition showcases a global selection of outstanding nature photography. 7 Minute Read It was here where he encountered a pair of bigfin reef squid. But Thomas managed it, while capturing the stillness of the moth’s head against the blur of its wings. The owners and sponsors have once again been kind enough to share the following 15 winning images from this year’s competition. The Moon and the crow taken by Gideon Knight. The Moment shows a rarely observed species displaying behaviour … Winner, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio Award—More than 5,000 male emperor penguins huddle against the wind and late-winter cold on the sea ice of Antarctica’s Atka Bay, in front of the Ekström Ice Shelf. So determined was he to create the photograph he had in mind that he continued firing off frames, unaware that his feet were succumbing to frostbite, which would take months to recover from. While it was still dark, the ants would use their bodies to build a new daytime nest (bivouac) to house the queen and larvae. Winner, Plants and Fungi—Festooned with bulging orange velvet, trimmed with gray lace, the arms of a Monterey cypress tree weave an otherworldly canopy over Pinnacle Point in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, California. We have some fantastic prizes for you to win including our top prize of € 3.000,- cash for the winner, plus other great cash prizes and cool photo equipment. Winner, Behavior: Birds—High on a ledge, on the coast near his home in northern Norway, Rikardsen carefully positioned an old tree branch that he hoped would make a perfect golden-eagle lookout. On this day, the air was fresh and clear after heavy snow. Introductory note to the GDT contest European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 From Prof. Dr. Beate Jessel . Max Waugh / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, © The females entrust their eggs to their mates to incubate and then head for the sea, where they feed for up to three months. For Arndt, the picture marked the culmination of seven months tracking wild pumas on foot, enduring extreme cold and biting winds in the Torres del Paine region of Patagonia, Chile. #, Pondworld. This female was Arndt's main subject, and was used to his presence. This was how he found himself over an unpromising sand flat, in just three meters of water. Traveling to the Yukon, he rented a van and spent a month following Dall sheep during the rutting season, when mature males compete for mating rights. Zorica Kovacevic / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, © Powerful wildlife photography focuses our attention on the beauty and fragility of the natural world. Winner, Animals in Their Environment—A small herd of male chiru leaves a trail of footprints on a snow-veiled slope in the Kumukuli Desert of China's Altun Shan National Nature Reserve. #, Night Glow. #, Creation. Winner, Earth’s Environments—Red-hot lava tongues flow into the Pacific Ocean, producing huge plumes of noxious laze—a mix of acid steam and fine glass particles—as they meet the crashing waves. #, Frozen Moment. Yongqing Bao The marmot's in trouble, but the photo is a winner. Manuel Plaickner / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, © This required spotting a potential target—here, a big male guanaco grazing apart from his herd on a small hill—and then positioning himself downwind, facing the likely direction the puma would come from. Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 showcases stunning photos of the natural world . #, Humming Surprise. These nimble antelopes are high-altitude specialists, found only on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The vibrant orange is set off by the tangles of gray-lace lichen, also harmless to the trees. Winner, Behavior: Birds—High on a ledge, on the coast near his home in northern … The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London, annually. Daniel Kronauer / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, © But one night, the colony assembled in the open, against a fallen branch and two large leaves that were evenly spaced and of similar height, prompting a structure spanning 50 centimeters and resembling "a living cathedral with three naves." In this particular pond, Plaickner watched the spawn build up until the moment arrived for the picture he had in mind—soft natural light, lingering frogs, harmonious colors, and dreamy reflections. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. #, Early Riser. Winner, 10 Years and Under—On holiday with his family in France, Thomas was eating supper in the garden on a warm summer’s evening when he heard the humming. After 17 days on the move, the colony would then find shelter and stay put while the queen laid more eggs, resuming wandering after three weeks. Loki’s Lil … Each photo is presented in a huge backlit display with a caption exploring the image’s compelling story. For all the brilliance of the winning image, it is still incredibly difficult not to award the prize to some of the best images ever entered into the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. Each paired male bears precious cargo—a single egg—on his feet, tucked under a fold of skin (the brood pouch), as he faces the harshest winter on Earth, with temperatures that fall below –40 degrees Celsius (–40 degrees Fahrenheit), severe wind chill, and intense blizzards. Nature Photographer of The Year is a Nature Photography contest that celebrates the beauty of nature photography. Beating over 48,000 entries from 100 countries, Yongqing’s image will be onshow in stunning lightbox displays with 99 other spectacular photographs. Gallery of Winners and Finalists 2019 Finalists. From his vantage point a kilometer away, Fan drew the contrasting elements together before they vanished into the warmth of sun and sand. A photo managed to capture a moment that hardly any of us will ever witness. Luis Vilariño Lopez / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, © The 2020 Competition is now closed! They need to breed and head straight for water, usually to where they themselves were spawned. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. #. He had just one sharp image, but that was also the vision of his dreams—the horns and key facial features of the mountain sheep etched into the white canvas, their fur blending into the snowscape. #, Snow Exposure. Overall Winner 2019; Joint Winner, Behavior: Mammals—It was early spring on the alpine meadowland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, in China’s Qilian Mountains National Nature Reserve, and very cold. Joint Winner, Behavior: Mammals—Fur flies as a puma launches her attack on a guanaco. Shooting from his vehicle, Waugh could only just make out its figure on the hillside. This was the front line of the biggest eruption in centuries of one of the world's most active volcanoes: Kilauea, on Hawaii's Big Island. Soft-footed were both the photographer and the subject of this year's winning image, the lynx. On loan from the Natural History Museumin London, these extraordinary images have been selected because they allow us to witness unique moments, encounter the diversity of life on Earth and reflect on humanity's role in its future. For more, visit their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Infiltrating an ant colony can help a spider that wants to eat ants, or avoid being eaten by them or by predators that dislike ants. Mammal Photographer of the Year Winners 2020 Announced, Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2019 – Finalists Announced, A vote to focus attention on Australia’s amazing animals, and their alarming decline, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals – Conjour Book Review, Seven Worlds, One Planet – Extended BBC Trailer, Amazon tribes take painful stings to renew their fight for the forest, Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. He often … A closer look. For his remarkable memorialization of the moment before attack, Chinese photographer Yongqing Bao has won Wildlife Photographer of the Year, … Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 showcases stunning photos of the natural world Written by Amy Woodyatt, CNN A gentoo penguin flees for its life as a … Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019: Stunning shots of animals. But the fox itself hadn’t reacted, and was still in the same position. An invited guest shares their insight on an image from Wildlife Photographer of the Year. It was a calm day, but when Christmann took off his glove to delicately focus the tilt-shift lens, the cold "felt like needles in my fingertips." Wildlife Photographer of the Year takes a close up look at the issues facing our world. On this day, a couple of hours before sunrise, Riccardo's guide led them to a cliff edge where the geladas were likely to emerge, giving him time to get into position before the geladas woke up. The giraffe photobomb, the bachelor party penguins, the racoon stretching from the tree, the swinging monkeys… the list covers all finalists this year. We want to hear what you think about this article. After an hour's wait, just before dawn, a group started to emerge not too far along the cliff. Shangzhen Fan / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, © It takes three to five hides to make a single shawl (the wool cannot be collected from wild antelopes, so they have to be killed). The Moment by Yongqing Bao of China is the winner of the 2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. But to record an attack, he had to be facing both prey and puma. The winning images for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 were announced on October 15, and a shot of standoff between a Tibetan fox and a marmot leads the list. The funny images were chosen from over 4,000 entries from 68 different countries, revealing that silly playfulness is universal amongst animals. Bison survive in Yellowstone’s harsh winter months by feeding on grasses and sedges beneath the snow. Now in its 5th year, the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards recently announced the hilarious winning photos for 2019. "Portrait Of A Mother" By Ingo Arndt, Germany, Animal Portraits, Highly Commended 2019. Within a few days, the frogs had gone, and the maturing eggs had risen to the surface. Jérémie Villet / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, © Nature Photographer of the Year is a Nature Photography contest that celebrates the artistry of nature photography. Very gradually–over the next three years–a golden eagle got used to the camera and started to use the branch regularly to survey the coast below. Hailing from the Chinese province of Qinghai, Yongqing Bao has won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 title for his extraordinary image, The Moment, which frames the standoff between a Tibetan fox and a marmot, seemingly frozen in life-or-death deliberations. By the time Lopez could hire a helicopter with permission to fly over the area, the new land extended more than 1.6 kilometers from shore. Mating involves a male grasping his partner, piggyback, until she lays up to 2,000 eggs, each in a clear jelly capsule, which he then fertilizes. Winner 2019, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio Award. © The fox continued to lie still. The puma then leapt on his back and tried to deliver a crushing bite to his neck. The sound was coming from the fast-beating wings of a hummingbird hawkmoth, hovering in front of an autumn sage, siphoning up nectar with its long proboscis. All Rights The winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition have been revealed at a ceremony at the Natural History Museum, London, which develops, produces and exhibits the international competition. #, Face of Deception. The marmot was hungry. Audun Rikardsen / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, © Cruz Erdmann / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, © More than 5,000 male emperor penguins huddle against the wind and late winter cold on the sea ice of Antarctica’s Atka Bay, in front of the Ekström Ice Shelf. (Photo: Martin Buzora/2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year) "Elias Mugambi is a ranger at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in northern Kenya. February 15 – March 24, 2019 Experience the wonders of nature through the lenses of award-winning photographers from around the world. This is the contest's 56th year running. #, The Equal Match. Category Plants And Fungi Winner: 'The Fallen Idol III' By David Frutos Egea (Es) 157 points. With the moth moving quickly from flower to flower, it was a challenge to frame a picture. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the most prestigious photography event of its kind showcasing the world’s most astonishing sights for more than 50 years. Winner, Black and White—In a winter whiteout in Yellowstone National Park, a lone American bison stands weathering the silent snowstorm. Running, he couldn't throw her off, and it was only when he dropped his weight on her, seemingly deliberately, that she let go, just missing a kick that could easily have knocked out her teeth or broken bones. One immediately jetted away, but the other—probably the male—hovered just long enough for Cruz to capture one instant of its glowing underwater show. Riccardo Marchgiani / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Photos of the Week: Patagonian Eclipse, Canal Skating, Sydney Surf, Engaging With Trump’s Die-Hard Supporters Isn’t Productive, Trump’s Enablers Will Meet Their Shakespearean Ends, Jupiter and Saturn Are Just Showing Off Now, The Mysterious Link Between COVID-19 and Sleep, Dear Therapist: Christmas With My Divorced Parents Is Getting Harder. Find out more. When the puma was within about 10 meters, she sprinted and jumped. The best photos of 2019 National Geographic's 100 best images of the year–curated from 106 photographers, 121 stories, and more than two million photographs. Nature photographer of the year 2019 - in pictures 0 From mystical woodlands to majestic whales, here are the winners and runners-up of this year’s … Ingo Arndt / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, © Winner, 11–14 Years Old—Cruz was on an organized night dive in the Lembeh Strait off North Sulawesi, Indonesia, and as an eager photographer and speedy swimmer, was asked to hold back from the main group to allow slower swimmers a chance of photography. Highly Commended Images They would form a scaffold of vertical chains (top right) by interlocking claws on their feet, and then create a network of chambers and tunnels into which the larvae and queen would be moved from the last bivouac. Stefan Christmann / Wildlife Photographer of the Year, © Winner, Animal Portraits—It may look like an ant, but then count its legs, and note those palps on either side of the folded fangs. In a matter of days, traveling at speed, the lava reached the Pacific on the island’s southeastern coast and began the creation of a huge delta of new land. Biswas was photographing a red weaver ant colony in the subtropical forest of India’s Buxa Tiger Reserve, in West Bengal, when he spotted this odd-looking ant. For half an hour, the puma crept up on the guanaco. The Moment. © Copyright 2020 The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Here, the lens was so close that the diminutive arachnid seemed to have been able to see its reflection and raised its legs as a warning. Lying in the snow, Villet was also battling with the brutal weather—not only were his fingers frozen, but the ferocious wind was making it difficult to hold his lens steady. They were engaged in courtship, involving a glowing, fast-changing communication of lines, spots, and stripes of varying shades and colors. One million chiru once ranged across this plateau, but commercial hunting in the 1980s and '90s left only about 70,000 individuals. Winner 2019, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio Award. Winner, 15–17 Years Old—Riccardo could not believe his luck when, at first light, this female gelada, with a week-old infant clinging to her belly, climbed over the cliff edge close to where he was perched. For years, Villet dreamed of photographing the pure-white North American mountain sheep against snow. More than 5,000 emperor penguins gather together in … #, Tapestry of Life. Winner, Behavior: Amphibians and Reptiles—Every spring, for more than a decade, Plaickner followed the mass migration of common frogs in South Tyrol, Italy. This particular spider seemed to be hunting. It had spotted the fox an hour earlier, and sounded the alarm to warn its companions to get back underground. The exhibition at the Natural History Museum opened on 18 October 2019 and will tour across the UK and internationally to locations such as Canada, Spain, the USA, Australia and Germany. Open to photographers of all ages and abilities, next year’s 2020 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition opens for entries on October 21, 2019 and closes at … Rigorous protection has seen a small increase, but demand—mainly from the West—for shahtoosh shawls still exists. Launching in 1965 and attracting 361 entries, today the competition receives 48,000 entries from 100 countries. The shape of their temporary bivouacs would depend on the surroundings—most were cone- or curtain-shaped and partly occluded by vegetation. #, The Architectural Army. Rikardsen’s painstaking work captures the eagle’s power as it comes in to land, talons outstretched. Though the Monterey cypress is widely planted (valued for its resistance to wind, salt, drought, and pests), it is native only on the Californian coast in just two groves. Chinese photographer Yongqing Bao has won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 title for The Moment, a photo … "The Huddle" by Stefan Christmann, Germany — Winner 2019, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio Award. A few glimpses of the landscape of Alaska, and some of the animals and people calling it home, Santa in a snow globe in Seattle, an orangutan returned to Indonesia, Fashion Week in Senegal, a gingerbread town in Norway, and much more. To this he bolted a tripod head with a camera, flashes and motion sensor attached, and built himself a hide a short distance away. Land of the Eagle. This year, the contest attracted more than 48,000 entries from 100 countries. Winner, Behavior: Invertebrates—At dusk, Kronauer tracked this colony of nomadic army ants as it moved, traveling up to 400 meters through the rainforest near La Selva Biological Station, in northeastern Costa Rica. From time to time, he left roadkill carrion nearby. TheAtlantic.com Copyright (c) 2020 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, founded in 1965, is an annual international showcase of the best in nature photography. #, The Huddle. Wildlife Photographer of the Year: The best images of 2019. An underwater photograph of a bigfin reef squid by a 14-year-old has won Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year. To survive at elevations of up to 5,500 meters, they have unique underfur—shahtoosh (Persian for "king of wools")—that is very light, very warm, and the main reason for the species' drastic decline. Depend on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in Yellowstone ’ s competition gather food, mostly other ant species where he a... 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