We’ve spent much of the last five weeks learning about nature photography and how to make better nature images. Here are the winning images of two prestigious nature photography competitions which should offer inspiration. Don’t be discouraged by a thought that ‘I’ll never take great images like that’. These images will give you a notion of the quality of work that is chosen, that way when you are standing in from of something truly spectacular, you’ll know not only to capture the image, but to enter the competition.
Veolia Environment 2011 Wildlife Photographer of the Year winning images. New contest starts 5 Dec 2011.
National Wildlife Magazine 2011 Photo Contest wining images.
A Day With Joe McNally
Like the image of the bird but feel that the “reflection” doesn’t seem natural to be that strong from the soft water here.
Both of these contests have strict rules on the amount of post capture processing that is allowed. Cropping and global adjustments are normaly the limit. Many of the top nature photography contsts now require the original RAW image capture file be provided if your image is selected a finailist, so i’m fairly certain the image is what it is.
I’ll take your word Dennis, you certainly have a lot of experience, but my initial reaction was the same as John’s. While it is a stunning image, the reflection just doesn’t seem natural.