Breathtaking Wildlife Photos From The 50th Annual Wildlife Photo Competition
The winners of the Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2014 Awards held by the London Natural History Museum have been announced, showcasing the best shots of animals and nature from around the world. This year the competition received more than 42,000 entries from 96 countries. Here are the winners and finalists from the Adult and Young Wildlife Photographer categories for 2014. Don’t miss out on their back stories!
More info: nhm.ac.uk
“The Last Great Picture,” Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014, Grand Title Winner, Black and White Category
“Stinger In The Sun,” Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014, Grand Title Winner, 10 Years and Under Category
“The Mouse, The Moon And The Mosquito,” Winner In Mammals Category
“Glimpse Of The Underworld,” Winner In Plants And Fungi Category
“Herons In Time And Space,” Winner In Birds Category
“Divine Snake,” Winner In Amphibians And Reptiles Category
“Night Of The Deadly Lights,” Winner In Invertebrates Category
“Passing Giants,” Winner In Underwater Species Category
“Apocalypse,” Winner In Earth’s Environments Category
“Cardinal Sparks,” Winner In Natural Design Category
The Price They Pay,” Winner In World In Our Hands Category
“The Long Embrace,” Winner In 15-17 Years Category
“Facebook Update,” New Special Award Winner: People’s Choice
A tourist at Jigokudani Monkey Park, Japan, was so desperate to get a close-up of this young Japanese macaque in a natural hot spring that she held her phone ever nearer to her subject. Suddenly, the monkey snatched the device from her hand and retreated to the middle of the water to examine its prize. Marsel, who was leading a photographic tour at the time, saw the chance for a striking picture. His main challenge was the steam rising from the 42˚C water into the freezing air. ‘I wanted a really low angle,’ he explains, ‘but that meant getting close to the water. My lens was cold and kept fogging up, making focussing almost impossible.’ At first, the macaque just fumbled with the gadget. It had no idea what it had stolen but was nonetheless pleased with its new toy. It even managed to let the built-in flash go off a few times. When it finally held the phone just as a human would, looking intently at the screen, Marsel was ready to capture the image he had envisaged. Japanese macaques are thought to display culture, where a learned behaviour (most famously washing food) is passed on to other troop members and their descendants. But it remains to be seen if future generations of tech-savvy macaques emerge. (Photo crtedits: Marsel van Oosten , The Netherlands)
“Angle Poise,” Winner In 11-14 Years Category
“Touché,” Finalist In The Birds Category
“The Longline Lottery,” Finalist In The World In Our Hands Category
“Snowbird,” Finalist In The 15-17 Years Category
“Feather Heavy,” Winner Of Special Award: Rising Star Portfolio Award
“Ocean Blues,” Finalist In Underwater Species Category
“You Have Been Warned,” Finalist In Invertebrates Category
When Alex went diving in the Lembeh Strait in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, he was on a mission to celebrate the smaller sea creatures. Equipped with a new high-magnification lens, he encountered this variable neon nudibranch, a species of sea slug, crawling across the seabed. Less than two centimetres long, it has green gills on its back and orange mouthparts. It uses its orange, feather-like rhinophores to smell out its prey, primarily sea squirts. It incorporates distasteful chemicals from sea squirts’ skin into slimy mucus, and uses its neon colours to warn predators that it tastes bad. Alex wanted an eye-level view of this unforgettable mollusc. But even with a small aperture it was a challenge. There was little depth of field and the subject was moving – and even a slug’s pace under magnification is surprisingly fast. (Photo crdits: Alex Mustard , United Kingdom)
“Jelly Fireworks,” Finalist In Underwater Species Category
“Feral Spirits,” Finalist In Birds Category
“Little Squid,” Finalist In The Underwater Species Category
