BBC Wildlife Camera Trap Photo of the Year

The results of this year's BBC Wildlife Camera Trap Photo of the Year are out.

Some interesting images, the tiger chasing the sambar is pure gold, should have won IMHO, it embodies everything that camera trapping is about. The black bear is also fantastic as is the amur tiger, the tiger overlooking the local town, the cougar and the tasmanian devil. Some really good stuff.

Thailand also has a commended image, which is great because it continues Parinya Padungtin's legacy of Thailand getting a shot commended in last years contest also.

Great achievement! Hopefully you will beat the Dormouse next year ;)!

After a google search the dormouse species, which I expected to be one of the rarest rodents in the world, I found out IUCN lists it as vulnerable, hmmm not exactly very special. For sure the subject doesn't need to be special to make a fantastic picture, but..., what can I say... the composition is ok, but other than that, nothing special... and it's not just a category winner but an overall winner. What am I missing here?

I like the Animal portraits runner up Cougar. The intimate look of the cat, the colors, and in its habitat... Only the shadow of the young christmas tree on the right... but other than that a great colorful capture of a beautiful big cat.
Though agree with Bagheera that the snow leopard looking back at the camera is quite a cool shot as well.

The chimps are funny.
The Tiger chasing the Sambar, how incredibly lucky is that.

It's hard to choose a winner, but for sure for me it wouldn't be the dormouse.

BTW, I now see the same website is showing the winners of the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013.
And after a short google search I found the official page:
gdtfoto.de/
That's an absolutely amazing collection of pictures!
Maybe it's just me, but for me it beats the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013.

Many thanks everyone, although I have to admit they got the credit wrong as it should have been Thompson/Edwardes as Ian Edwardes is as much, if not more, responsible for the shot than I and we share credit on this, as with all the camera trap pictures we do.

Now to concentrate on my luck chants, because the great thing about camera trapping is that it is 90% luck.

I've seen very few tigers in my life, so far no wild ones, but even very few captive animals.
This might be a stupid question, I've just never paid attention to it, but in this detailed photograph it raised a question.
Is it normal that the nipples are visible in female tigers, or would it be a sign that she actually might have had cubs?

The 2014 contest is now open, and the rules are a lot better. But I think the prize for non-research is a bit mediocre considering the Beeb made 156,000,000 GBP profit last year. Its a bag? Still it gets exposure for Thailand, though.


"PRESS RELEASE
10 March 2014


Call for entries: BBC Wildlife Magazine Camera-trap Photo of the Year
2014 contest now open


BBC Wildlife Magazine, one of the world’s most prestigious natural
history titles, announces that its 2014 Camera-trap Photo of the Year
competition, sponsored by Lowepro, is now open for entries.

Launched in 2010, the contest is open to both field researchers and
keen amateurs and celebrates the most visually exciting or significant
camera-trap images being produced around the world. The awards are
sponsored by Lowepro, which builds protective, high-quality gear for
photography, video and portable electronic devices – for every
climate and every condition.

Matt Swaine, Editor of BBC Wildlife Magazine, commented:
“Camera-trap technology has done a great deal to advance research
into animal behaviour. At the same time more photographers are using
these cameras to deliver astonishingly striking images of wildlife. To
keep pace with these developments, we wanted to make sure that this
year’s award could fully celebrate both camps. So we have decided to
split the award into two distinct areas: one that is open exclusively
to research projects and another that is open to any photographer. We
hope this will allow us to celebrate more research while making sure
that we can showcase stunning images.”

This year’s awards fall into two areas: Camera-trap Research Project
of the Year and Camera-trap Photo of the Year. A maximum of 12
camera-trap images can be entered into one of the competition
categories (no photos may be entered in more than one category):

CAMERA-TRAP RESEARCH PROJECT OF THE YEAR
Open exclusively to research projects using camera-trap technology,
the winners of one of these three categories will be eligible for the
overall award of Camera-Trap Research Project of the Year, with a
prize of £3,000. Judges will base their selection on the quality of
the research and the importance of the image to that research.

· New Behaviour - Images taken during the course of research
that show behaviour never before recorded.

· New Range - Images taken during research that show a species
never photographed before outside its known range.

· Rare Species - Images taken during research that show a
species that is rarely seen or never photographed in the wild.

CAMERA-TRAP PHOTO OF THE YEAR
The categories require amazing camera-trap images and are open to
everyone. Winners of these three categories will compete for the
Camera-Trap Photographer of the Year title.

· Animal Portraits - Images should capture the character or
spirit of their subject.

· Animal Behaviour - A compelling image that shows interesting
or unusual behaviour.

· British Wildlife - Amazing images that capture the spirit and
behaviour of British wildlife.


The winners will be published in the December 2014 issue of BBC
Wildlife Magazine and on the BBC Wildlife Magazine website,
www.discoverwildlife.com and will receive a Lowepro Flipside Sport 15L
camera pack, worth £122.

The closing date for entries is 30 June 2014, and all photos must be
submitted online at www.discoverwildlife.com/competitions. Full
competition rules and further information on how to enter the
competition are published in the Spring issue of BBC Wildlife
Magazine, on sale 12 March, and online at
www.discoverwildlife.com/competitions.

Thailand's Parinya Padungtin scored a "commended" in this years competition for Thailand AGAIN :) . A second time for Parinya in the competition. Thailand's best camera trapper. Fabulous!

CLICK HERE for 2014 winners

Animal Behaviour commended: Banteng, Huay Kha Khang Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand by Parinya Padungtin

Additionally, Watcharabul Leesuwan (AKA Note Leesuwan, the actor/conservationist) got one of his fantastic camera trap photos of a Tapir in HKK listed in the "Editors Picks" section as well.

To be honest we did not enter because of the prize disparity between "research" and "non-research". Saying that, and seeing some of the winning shots - not entering is a good excuse :whistle: because there's some great images. I was surprised not see Jonny Armstrong's fox pictures because I think they would have wiped the floor - look for them winning next year!!