Wildlife Photography Contest Results

First off I have to say that you folks made picking the winners of the first Wild Nature Photo Wildlife Competition much harder than I thought it ever would be. The quality of images submitted to the contest was just phenomenal.

Having said that, I very much enjoyed seeing your images and you can be sure we will do this again very soon.

Without further ado, here are my picks.

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron by Rhonda Holcomb

I do have to say that when I saw this image, I was immediately captivated. This image completely transported me to this location, I can almost feel the wind! The composition, exposure and pose are perfect! This image illustrates one of the points I always make, that you don’t need to travel to exotic locations to make great wildlife images, I even wrote an article here on the blog about it; don’t get me wrong, I love traveling to far away places to make images, I even lead workshops to some exotic locations. But don’t discount the places that are less glamorous and closer to you, you could make images such as the one above!

Great job Rhonda. Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, Rhonda is also one of the winners of the Aperture Nature Photo Workshops where she will be joining me along with Scott Bourne, Rick Sammon and Gary Hamburg next month in Mt. Rainier. However the fact that she was a winner at ANPW had no bearing on the result of this contest.

Dream A Little by Paul Marcellini

What an image! I love the many different layers in this image, absolutely stunning. As Paul has been told before, and I agree, this is an image of a lifetime. But don’t put that camera down, go out and make some more just like it.

Atlantic Sea Nettle by Joel Arrington

I love the almost monochromatic look to this image, lots of movement and detail and the perfect amount of depth of field.

The Early Bird by Billy Currie

What a surprising composition. Even-though I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the bottom of the image the juxtaposition of the swan with the peacefulness of the lake and far off mountains make me want to keep looking at this image for hours on end. This image certainty conveys a deep sense of peacefulness.

Snowy Owl by Dominic Cantin

I admit I have a weakness for owls, and this image just struck me with the sense of power it conveys. Composition is outstanding, and you can clearly see the emblematic yellow eyes clearly, adding greatly to the connection between the subject and the viewer. Make sure to check Dominics Snowy Owl Gallery for many stunning images.

Roaming by Younes Bounhar

What I love the most about this image is the sense of the habitat this wolf depends on for its survival, as well as it’s movement thru it. Excellent composition and panning technique.

I will be contacting the winners in the order listed here over the next few days, so that they can pick out their prizes.

As I mentioned earlier I was inspired by the quality of images posted to the competition. I encourage you to check them all out, and be inspired yourself! http://www.flickr.com/groups/wildnaturephoto/pool/.

A big “Thank You” to all that submitted. Make sure to keep an eye out on my blog for more competitions in the not too distant future.

As always, if you have any questions or comments use the comments section below or you can reach me via twitter at http://twitter.com/jpons.

-J