Release Issued by Natural History Museum:
Winning image to take centre stage in exhibition at the Natural History Museum
Exhibition open to the public: 21 October 2006 - 29 April 2007
The winners of this year's Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition are to be announced on Wednesday 18 October 2006, at a special private viewing at the Natural History Museum, London.
Göran Ehlmé of Sweden will be awarded Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2006 for his image Beast of the sediment and Rick Stanley, 17, of the USA will be named Shell Young WildlifePhotographer of the Year 2006 for his image The dilemma.
The award-winning images for 2006 are:
Eric Hosking Award - Serkan Günes of Turkey/Sweden with a portfolio of six images
Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Wildlife - Stig Frode Olsen of Norway with Eider lift-off
Animals in Their Environment - Jan Vermeer of The Netherlands with Coconut crab going up
Animal Behaviour: Birds - Vincent Munier of France with Snowy landing
Animal Behaviour: Mammals - Göran Ehlmé of Sweden with Beast of the sediment
Animal Behaviour: All Other Animals - Andre Seale of Brazil/USA with Turtle grooming
The Underwater World - Michael AW of Singapore with The great mimic
Animal Portraits - Tibor Dombovári of Hungary with Great barracuda
In Praise of Plants - Dirk Heckmann of Germany with Lily leaf
Urban and Garden Wildlife - Igor Shpilenok of Russia with Still life and bear
Creative Visions of Nature - Juhani Kosonen of Finland with Dewdrops
The World in Our Hands - Jocke Berglund of Sweden with Hurricane tree
Wild Places - Bernard van Dierendonck of The Netherlands with Dune
15-17 years old - Rick Stanley of the USA with The dilemma
11-14 years old - Péter Kovács of Hungary with Robin in a spin
10 years and under - Nils Grundmann of Germany with Pelican glare
Winning image
The winning image, of a walrus whipping up the sediment at the bottom of the sea as it gorges on bivalve shells, was among over 18,000 entries from 55 countries. The Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition is the world's largest and most prestigious wildlife photographic competition, jointly owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine and sponsored by Shell.
'It's got everything, the feel of the picture is interesting, your attention goes straight to the eye. A very simple graphic image showing interesting behaviour' said chairman of the judges, Mark Carwardine. Judge, Andy Mclane added, 'You get a real sense that you're seeing something you've never seen before. Epic. You could spend years trying to get this shot.'
Beast of the Sediment
Shot on a Nikon D2x with 12-24mm lens; 1/50 sec at f4; 400 ISO; Seacam housing with wide-angle port.
Like most bottom-feeders, the walrus has messy table manners. Gorging on bivalve shells, it first uses its facial bristles to brush away the sediment. Then it roots around like a pig with its snout, or beats a flipper, to whip up the sediment, which is what this stunning image captures. Swimming with this huge beast off northeast Greenland, Göran took more than 400 images with his new digital camera.
This meant he wasn't limited to 36 before needing to surface to change film. The walrus, though, had to surface for air every four or five minutes. Hours later, after shooting from every angle, 'the moment came', says Göran. 'The walrus looked round, and we made eye contact.' It took Göran years of studying walrus behaviour before considering diving with them. 'At first I was very nervous,' he says, 'but now I know how to approach them safely and respectfully'. An underwater cameraman, Göran has 24 years of diving experience with 1,500 dives. This is the first time he has entered the competition.
The dilemma
Shot on a Canon EOS 1D Mark II with Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L USM zoom lens; 1/400 sec at f8; 800 ISO.
The dilemma by 17-year-old Rick Stanley shows a Hispaniolan treefrog, which had been caught in the jaws of a green vine snake. While on an expedition with a group of naturalists in the Dominican Republic, Rick wandered off with his Dominican friend Rubio to look for wildlife in the forest. 'Suddenly,' says Rick, 'we heard a loud squeaking'. Rubio was the first to discover its source - a distressed Hispaniolan treefrog, which had been caught by a green vine snake. 'I photographed the drama as the frog dangled in front of me, but Rubio was unable to resist helping the victim and gently touched the snake, which promptly dropped its meal and slithered away along the branches.' The frog, seemingly unaffected by the snake's mild venom, hopped off. Rick was left wondering whether it would have been morally better to let the snake have its meal - and, indeed, if it would have succeeded in swallowing such a large frog had it been left to try.
Rick started taking photographs of nature at eight when he received his first camera and by the age of 12 one of his images had been published in a book about the birds of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. In 2004 his image of harlequin ducklings in Denali National Park was highly commended in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition.
All the judges agreed that Rick's image was a unanimous winner. Tim Flach commented, 'This works on several different levels. On a cursory glance the frog appears to be jumping, but then you notice the snake has grabbed it… then you look at the frog and it seems to be smiling! It's a complete contradiction.'
Beast of the sediment and The dilemma will join the other category winners in the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, which displays all 92 winning, specially and highly commended images from the 2006 competition. The exhibition opens to visitors at the Natural History Museum on Saturday 21 October 2006 and runs until 29 April 2007. It will then tour across the country and five continents after its London debut.
The Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition
The Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine, is the most successful event of its kind. It is open to amateur and professional photographers, and this year a panel of wildlife and photography experts scrutinised entries, from 55 countries, for their composition and originality.
The competition showcases the very best photographic images of nature to a worldwide audience, displaying the splendour, drama and variety of life on Earth. It also aims to show the artistry involved in wildlife photography and encourage a new generation of photographers to produce visionary and evocative interpretations of nature.
The prize-winning pictures will feature in a special souvenir magazine free with the November issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine (on sale October 19). All the winning and commended images will also be published by the BBC in a commemorative book, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio 16, priced Ł25, available from the Museum Shop, through BBC Wildlife Magazine, bbcshop.com and all good retailers.
Photographers inspired by the 2006 winners have until the end of March 2007 to submit their entries to next year's competition. Entry forms will be available in the February issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine (on sale 18 January), from the Natural History Museum (020 7942 5015) and through the web, www.nhm.ac.uk/wildphoto .
