The WildArt Photographer of the Year photo competition, created by wildlife photographers for wildlife photographers, announced the winning and highly commended images of its wet-themed contest, now in its second year.
Organized by WildArt Images — an image library that helps conservation causes — it’s one of 10 different themed-category contests running during the first 10 months of 2022 and it asked photographers to submit their best photos incorporating wildlife and water.
The winners will participate in a final grand contest to win the WildArt Photographer of the Year title and a £3,000 prize.
Snow, ice, rain, rivers and very wet animals are prominent throughout the winning and highly-commended photographs.
American photographer Vicki Santello took the Gold award for her image ‘The Successful Hunt’ (above), showing a bobcat in Yellowstone National Park carrying its prize after a successful hunt. The bobcat entered an icy river to grab a duck and Santello captured the moment when he emerged with his kill, climbed the riverbank with the mallard firmly clenched in his mouth and retreated into the woods.
These are the winners and highly-commended images with comments from the photographers:
“When we saw the wildebeest gathering at the Mara River, we assessed the situation and determined it would be a much better opportunity to see them from the other side. We raced across the plains, crossed the river and an hour or so later were positioned perfectly to see them crossing toward us through a very steep chute splashing into the river.”
“Banded Demoiselle Calopteryx splendens is one of my favorite species among damselflies, so I was very happy when I came across it. After spending three years searching for this species, I found a brook in the Duna-Ipoly National Park, Hungary, where this damselfly can be found.”
“The Long-nosed Horned Frog is an iconic species from the South East Asian tropics. For a better resonance and a therefore longer perceiving range to attract females, this male positioned itself on an elevated rock right in front of a waterfall, calling in the direction of the rocky overhang, which concentrated the sound and reflected into the forest.”
“For many weeks, I observed and photographed a kingfisher that used to hang out at a pond near my home to catch fish. It was a young female that had hatched the same year. Almost every day I spent a few hours before or after school in my camouflage tent waiting for the kingfisher to appear. One day, she landed in the reeds right behind my tent. I could see her through a small gap in my tent. She was only about 30 centimeters away from me and looking eagerly into the water for fish. Very carefully, I lifted my tent a little to hold my camera when I noticed the reflection of the kingfisher on the surface of the water. The structures of the trees as well as all the reflections of the sun combined with the silhouette of the kingfisher on the water surface. That day, I cycled home so happy.”
“This Arctic Fox was raised by people. It is able to roam freely and wanders off for days until it will leave for good one day. After arriving on location, the fox swam through a stream and came out on the other side soaking wet. After a couple of steps on the other, he shook off the water.”
“It is so much fun watching young elephants at the waterhole; they are so full of life. This is one of the young elephants being reintegrated into the wild at David Sheldricks Ithumba location in Tsavo East. It was a cool day and most of the elephants decided to skip the swim, leaving the water hole open for this one splasher who truly enjoyed making waves.”
“There's a little lake near our town and in 2021, it almost completely froze over. In the ice-free area many birds gathered, and that's what I photographed with a drone.”
“Dressed in several layers of clothing, accompanied by a camera and hope for winter images, I went for a walk, without a plan and focusing on natural ‘spontaneity’. In the distance, in a river valley overflowing with endless white, I spotted a beautifully colored red fox. The fox wandered along the shore calmly, but the delicate ice on the shallow river broke. At a temperature of -21 degrees below zero, his fur was covered with frost. After a few meters it decided to taste the water from the unfrozen part of the river.”
“I took the picture in the quieter backwater of a stream near my town, where these agile Common Whirligig Beetles orbit the surface of the water.”
“A silky shark swims underneath the setting sun in Jardines de la Reina, Cuba, close to the surface underneath a stunning sunset sky. This species is a pelagic shark that is common around Jardines de la Reina. They get excited and curious as the night draws in, frequently coming in for closer inspection of the strange humans that have entered their world.”
“I worked with dipper birds during the cold last winter. The river was decorated with monumental ice structures, and I wanted to show how the birds were a part of the iced landscape. Usually the birds were seen alone, but sometimes they met and chased each other. It could be quite cold to spend the days along the river in -20C.”
“Every year, during the first rains of springs, Spotted Salamanders make a mass breeding migration to vernal pools. I am lucky enough to have lived close enough to a prime breeding site in the U.S. and seemingly tens of thousands of salamanders used the pond. This male surfaced, snatched a quick breath, and dived back to his female.”
Each fall, millions of salmon migrate up rivers in the Pacific Northwest to spawn. These pink salmon, towards the end of their journey, are beginning to rot alive. I submerged myself at the base of a plunge pool in a salmon river on Vancouver Island and for several hours, barely moved and just watched the fish struggle upstream.
