BWPA 2013 Winners Announced!
by Maggie Gowan of British Wildlife Photography Awards
2 September 2013

The British Wildlife Photography Awards 2013

A Celebration of British Wildlife

The British Wildlife Photography Awards proudly announce the winners for 2013.

The Awards were created to celebrate the talents of both amateur and professional photographers, while simultaneously highlighting the great wealth of British natural history. With twelve separate categories including a special category for Wildlife in HD Video, the Awards beautifully reveal the splendour of Britain’s wildlife. There are also two junior categories to encourage young people to connect with nature through photography.

“These stunning images by so many talented photographers highlight the diversity, breadth and beauty of our precious wildlife and the need to protect their habitats. The British Wildlife Photography Awards are without doubt one of the most important photography awards in the UK. Anything that raises the public's awareness of the importance to conserve and protect British wildlife is very close to my heart and these awards afford a spectacular insight into the habitat and behaviour of our British wildlife. From blue tits to badgers, never has Britain's wildlife looked more beautiful", Chris Packham, Naturalist and TV Presenter.

George Karbus the winner describes his magical moment with a surfing dolphin. “The photograph was taken in the most intimidating and surf-heavy spot on the Coast of Northern Ireland. I encountered this playful dolphin that suddenly started to surf the deep tube inside the waves. Each time the dolphin got into the wave, I dived underneath, held my breath and waited for the moment when he would swish through a silver barrel close enough to my lens. Water visibility is always very limited in Ireland, and I was very lucky to get a shot like this”.

Andrew Parkinson, Judge and Wildlife Photographer said “To me it is one of those extraordinary moments in nature, a dolphins' fin cutting through the surface of the water, and creating a perfect window onto the land. Not only was the photographer in the right place at the right time, he also had the skill to nail it! Stunning!'

The Young People’s Award once again has been a great success. Dr Mark Boyd, Youth Manager at the RSPB said “Children and young people astounded us with the quality and range of their entries. We had everything from approachable garden insects to wary mountain birds; from detailed close-ups to evocative wildlife landscapes; from pictures that made us think to pictures that made us gasp! It's a real delight to be involved in this competition and to see how much pleasure youngsters obviously gain from going outside and getting close to nature.

The Winners

British Wildlife Photographer

George Karbus, for his image of a dolphin surfing entitled “In the Living Room”.

The Category winners are:

ANIMAL PORTRAITS – Mark Thomas, “Tommy” (Tompot Blenny, North Wales)

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR – Robin Orrow, “Deadly Rivals” (Grey Wagtail, Norfolk)

URBAN WILDLIFE – Jamie Hall, “Fallow Deer on Housing Estate” (London)

HIDDEN BRITAIN – James Knight, “Viewpoint“ (Snail, Buckinghamshire)

COAST AND MARINE – George Karbus, “In the Living Room” (Bottlenose Dolphin, Northern Ireland)

WILDWOODS – Richard Packwood, “Badger in the Woods” (Mid Wales)

HABITAT – Margaret Walker, “Red Deer Stags Enduring Blizzard” (Cairngorms, Scotland)

BOTANICAL BRITAIN – Robert Canis, “In the Shadow of Giants” (Saffrondrop Bonnet, Kent)

NATURAL DETAILS – Michael Gallagher, “Cuttlefish Detail” (Dorset)

BRITISH SEASONS – Tomasz Garbacz, “Ptarmigan” (Scotland)

1) An adult badger emerges from its sett on the edge of farmland to begin anevening of foraging for food. But, if the government continues to ignore the advice of leading scientists and overlooks the benefits of viable alternatives such as vaccination to press ahead with controversial culling plans to tackle the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), many badgers in such areas could be targeted and destroyed.	2) See the problem? With cows in the background, veterinary workers prepare protective equipment and vaccine for use on badgers before checking cage traps near a badger sett on a dairy farm in Gloucestershire. It is this close contact between badgers and cattle that is at the heart of the badger debate. This farm is inside a study area established by Defra to evaluate the viability of badger vaccination as a method of controlling bTB transmission	3) A badger caught in a cage trap awaits vaccination by veterinary workers as part of badger vaccination viability trials. Traps are checked daily. The bTB vaccine is then administered quickly in the early hours of the morning in order to minimise stress to the animals and reduce the risk of the public interfering with traps and research
4) Veterinary workers prepare vaccine before carrying out bovine tuberculosis (bTB) vaccinations on badgers in a study area in Gloucestershire. This study area was established by Defra to allow trials to evaluate the viability of vaccinating badgers while also providing training for those wishing to carry out vaccination programmes elsewhere. Many prominent landowners, such as the Wildlife Trusts, National Trust and RSPB, have chosen vaccination as their preferred alternative method of controlling the spread of bTB.	5) A veterinary worker administers bTB vaccine to a badger caught in a cage trap. Once a badger has been vaccinated, a portion of hair is clipped and its coat sprayed with coloured dye to identify it as having been vaccinated. This whole process lasts just a couple of minutes and limits stress on the animal. Many hope vaccination programmes can be delivered as a viable alternative to the cull of one the UK’s favourite species.	6) A badger dashes from a cage trap having been quickly and successfully vaccinated against bTB by veterinary field workers. This badger will now live out the rest of its life unaffected by bTB…unless its life is cut short by the government’s controversial culling plans, that is.

DOCUMENTARY – Neil Aldridge, “The Alternative” (Badger Vaccination, SERIES Bedfordshire)

Henry and the Waxwings from BWPAwards.

WILDLIFE IN HD VIDEO – Liz Musser, “Henry and the Waxwings” (Fair Isle, Shetland, Scotland)

Highlights of all the commended winners:

BWPA Highlights of Commended Wildlife in HD Videos 2013 from BWPAwards.

Highly commended entries:

Ant Action by Tim Balmer
Deep Colour by Andy Jackson
A Passion for Bees by Tim Balmer
The Otter by Jim Manthorpe
Autumn in Gosforth Park by Cain Scrimgeour
Pigeons in the city by Rebecca Payne
Puffins Come Home by Matt Brierley
Park Life by Sam Meyrick
RSPB Troup Head by Cain Scrimgeour
Winter Snow by Danielle Godwin
Waxwings feeding by Mihali Moore
Henry and the Waxwings by Liz Musser (winner)
Spin by James Dunbar
The Night Shift by Sue Daly
Surviving the Seasons by Madeleine Close

Congratulations to those above, especially to the Wildlife-film.com members highlighted!

WildPix Young People’s Awards

Under 12 – Liam Constantine for his image of a Brown Hare

WildPix 12-18 – Joseph Amess for his image of a Great Tit in Flight

View all the winning Images, video and selection of highly commended entries here: www.bwpawards.co.uk

The Prizes

First prize: £5,000

Category winners will receive a Canon PowerShot S110 Camera and a Canon PIXMA PRO 10 Printer.

Wildlife in HD Video category winner will receive a Sky World HD package and a 3D TV. Plus a Canon XA -10 Professional Camcorder.

The British Seasons Category prize is £700 worth of Páramo clothing plus an f-stop Tilopa or Loka camera bag with medium ICU, subject to availability.

The Young winner (under 12) will receive: £300
The young winner (12 -18) will receive: £500

The Exhibition

The exhibition of 100 images and video, including winning and commended entries launches at the Mall Galleries, London, commencing Monday 2nd September and is open until Saturday 7th September. For full details of opening hours visit: www.mallgalleries.org.uk. A year-long tour of the exhibition will follow. These are the current venues. Further venues and dates will be added. Please check back on this website to see updates. www.bwpawards.org/c/galleries/exhibitions

Venues:

Mall Galleries, London, 2nd to 7th September 2013
Nature in Art, Gloucestershire, 17th September to 10th November 2013
Aberystwyth Art Centre,Wales,15th November 2013 to early January 2014 (exact date TBC)
Moor Valley Country Park, Dorset, 25th January to 8th March 2014
Whitstable Museum and Art Gallery, Kent, 5th October 2013 to 6th January 2014
Stockwood Discovery Centre, Luton, Bedfordshire, 18th January to 18th March 2014
Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery, Exeter, 26th March to 20th July 2014

The Book

The British Wildlife Photography Awards: Collection 4 showcases the very best entries from the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2013. This stunning coffee table book is a celebration of British wildlife as captured on camera by today’s best amateur and professional photographers. The book is available here: www.amazon.co.uk

The Sponsors

Canon, SKY+HD, RSPB Wildlife Explorers, WWF, The Wildlife Trusts, Forestry Commission England, City of London, Countryside Jobs Service, Sparsholt College Hampshire, Buglife, Paramo and Outdoor Photography Magazine.

Contact:
Maggie Gowan
British Wildlife Photography Awards
Email: mail@maggiegowan.co.uk
Website: www.bwpawards.co.uk