Digital SLR Photography - UK (2019-12)

(Antfer) #1
©RIPAN
BISWAS /
WILDLIFE

PHOTOG

RAPHE
ROF
THE
YEA
R

© YONGQING BAO/WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OFTHE YEAR

© DAVIDDOUBILET/WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

20 Digital SLR Photography December 2019


3 ) WINNER 2019, UNDER WATER: The garden of eels by David
Doubilet, USA. The colony of garden eels was one of the largest
David had ever seen, at least two thirds the size of a football
field, stretching down a steep sandy slope off Dauin, in the
Philippines – a cornerstone of the famous Coral Triangle.
These warm-water relatives of conger eels are extremely shy,
vanishing into their sandy burrows the moment they sense
anything unfamiliar. David placed his camera housing
(mounted on a base plate, with a ball head) just within the
colony and hid behind the remnants of a shipwreck, where he
could trigger it remotely. When a small wrasse led a slender
cornetfish through the gently swaying forms, he had his shot.

2 ) WINNER 2019, ANIMAL PORTRAITS: Face of deception by
Ripan Biswas, India. It may look like an ant, but count its
legs – and note those palps either side of the folded fangs.
Ripan 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. On a close look, he
realized it was a tiny ant-mimicking crab spider, just 5mm long.
Many spider species imitate ants in appearance and behaviour


  • even smell. Infiltrating an ant colony can help a spider
    wanting to eat ants or to avoid being eaten by them. This
    particular spider seemed to be hunting. By reverse-mounting
    his lens, Ripan converted it to shoot extreme close-ups.


1 ) WINNER 2019, ANIMALS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT:


Snow-plateau nomads by Shangzhen Fan, China. 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. These nimble antelopes – the males with long,
slender horns – are high-altitude specialists, found only on the
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. To survive at elevations of up to 5,500m,
where temperatures fall to -40 ̊C, they have unique
underfur – shahtoosh – very light, very warm and the main
reason for the species’ drastic decline. A million chiru once
ranged across this vast plateau, but commercial hunting in the
'80s and '90s have left only about 70,000 individuals.

4 ) WINNER 2019, WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR


PORTFOLIO AWARD: The huddle by Stefan Christmann,
Germany. More than 5,000 male emperor penguins huddle
against the wind and late winter cold on the sea ice of Atka Bay,
Antarctica, in front of the Ekström Ice Shelf. It was a calm day,
but when Stefan took off his glove to focus the tilt-shift lens,
the cold "felt like needles in my fingertips". Each paired male
bears a precious cargo on his feet – a single egg – tucked under
a fold of skin (the brood pouch) as he faces the harshest winter
on Earth, with temperatures that fall below -40 ̊C. The females
entrust their eggs to their mates to incubate before heading for
the sea, where they feed for up to three months.
5 ) WINNER 2019, 11- 14 YEARS OLD. Night glow by Cruz
Erdmann, New Zealand. Cruz was on a night dive with his dad
when he saw a pair of bigfin reef squid in the shallow water.
One swam off but Cruz quickly adjusted his camera and strobe
settings, knowing that the opportunity was too good to miss.
He shot four frames of the remaining squid before it too
disappeared into the inky blackness. Bigfin reef squid are
masters of camouflage, changing their body colour and
pattern using their reflective and pigmented skin cells.
They also alter their appearance to help them communicate.
During courtship, males and females display complex patterns
to indicate their willingness to mate.

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