Inside the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition 2021

The prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021 exhibition is mid-way through its run at the M Shed, where it can be visited until June 5.

Widely thought of as a showcase for the best nature photography in the world, the competition first launched in 1965 when it drew 365 entries; today it attracts tens of thousands from nearly 100 countries.

The winning images are judged on their creativity, originality and technical ability, and together demonstrate the astonishing diversity and splendour of the natural world.

Bristol 24/7 takes a look inside the exhibition at some of the winning and highly commended images (with full captions) from Wildlife Photographer of the Year – in the Mammals, Underwater, Photojournalism, and 10 Years and Under categories.

Creation by Laurent Ballesta, France – Winner, Underwater

Lauren Ballesta, Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Laurent Ballesta (France) peers into the depths as a trio of camouflage groupers exit their milky cloud of eggs and sperm.

For five years Laurent and his team returned to this lagoon, diving day and night to see the annual spawning of camouflage groupers. They were joined after dark by reef sharks hunting the fish.

Spawning happens around the full moon in July, when up to 20,000 fish gather in Fakarava in a narrow southern channel linking the lagoon with the ocean. Overfishing threatens this species, but here the fish are protected within a biosphere reserve.

Nikon D5 + 17–35mm f2.8 lens at 17mm 1/200 sec at f11 ISO 1600 Seacam housing Seacam strobes1/200 sec at f11 ISO 1600 Seacam housing Seacam strobes

The great swim by Buddhilini de Soyza, Sri Lanka/Australia – Highly commended, Behaviour: Mammals

Buddhilini de Soyza, Wildlife Photographer of the Year

When the Tano Bora coalition of male cheetahs leapt into the raging Talek River in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, Dilini feared they would not make it. Unseasonable, relentless rain (possibly linked to the changing climate) had, by January 2020, caused the worst flooding local elders had ever known.

Cheetahs are strong (if not keen) swimmers, and with the prospect of more prey on the other side of the river, they were determined. Dilini followed them for hours from the opposite bank as they searched for a crossing point. Male cheetahs are mostly solitary, but sometimes they stay with their brothers or team up with unrelated males. The Tano Bora (Maasai for ‘magnificent five’) is an unusually large coalition, thought to comprise two pairs of brothers, joined later by a single male.

“A couple of times the lead cheetah waded into the river, only to turn back,” says Dilini. Calmer stretches – perhaps with a greater risk of lurking crocodiles – were spurned. “Suddenly, the leader jumped in,” she says. Three followed, and then finally the fifth. Dilini watched them being swept away by the torrents, faces grimacing. Against her expectations and much to her relief, all five made it. They emerged onto the bank some 100 metres (330 feet) downstream and headed straight off to hunt.

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV + 100–400mm f4.5–5.6 lens at 400mm; 1/2000 sec at f5.6; ISO 640.

A caring hand by Douglas Gimesy, Australia – Highly commended, Photojournalism

Douglas Gimesy, Wildlife Photographer of the Year

After a feed of special formula milk, an orphaned grey-headed flying-fox pup lies on a ‘mumma roll’, sucking on a dummy and cradled in the hand of wildlife-carer Bev. She was three weeks old when she was found on the ground in Melbourne, Australia, and taken to a shelter.

Grey‑headed flying-foxes, endemic to eastern Australia, are threatened by heat-stress events and destruction of their forest habitat – where they play a key role in seed dispersal and pollination. They also come into conflict with people, get caught in netting and on barbed wire and electrocuted on power lines.

At eight weeks, the pup will be weaned onto fruit, then flowering eucalyptus. After a few months, she will join a crèche and build up flight fitness, before being moved next to Melbourne’s Yarra Bend bat colony, for eventual release into it.

Nikon D750 + Sigma 50mm f1.4 lens; 1/250 sec at f2.8; ISO 125.

Dome home by Vidyun R Hebbar, India – Winner, 10 Years and Under

Vidyun R Hebbar, Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Vidyun R Hebbar (India) watches a tent spider as a tuk-tuk passes by.

Exploring his local theme park, Vidyun found an occupied spider’s web in a gap in a wall. A passing tuk-tuk (motorised rickshaw) provided a backdrop of rainbow colours to set off the spider’s silk creation.

Tent spiders are tiny – this one had legs spanning less than 15 millimetres. They weave non-sticky, square-meshed domes, surrounded by tangled networks of threads that make it difficult for prey to escape. Instead of spinning new webs every day, the spiders repair existing ones.

Nikon D5000 + 85mm f3.5 lens 1/250 sec at f5 ISO 200 Manfrotto tripod.

Lockdown chicks by Gagana Mendis Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka – Highly commended, 10 years and under

Gagana Mendis Wickramasinghe, Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Three rose-ringed parakeet chicks pop their heads out of the nest hole as their father returns with food. Watching was 10‑year-old Gagana, on the balcony of his parents’ bedroom, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The hole was at eye level with the balcony, in a dead areca-nut palm in the backyard, which his parents had deliberately left standing to attract wildlife.

In the spring of 2020, during the long days of the island-wide lockdown, Gagana and his older brother had hours of entertainment watching the parakeet family and experimenting with their cameras, sharing lenses and a tripod, always mindful that the slightest movement or noise would stop the chicks showing themselves.

When incubating the eggs, the female stayed inside while the male foraged (for fruit, berries, nuts and seeds mainly), feeding her by regurgitating food. When Gagana took this picture, both parents were feeding the growing chicks. Only when they fledged did Gagana realize that there were as many as five chicks.

Also known as ring‑necked parakeets, these medium-sized parrots are native to Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan as well as a band of sub‑Saharan Africa, but feral populations are now found in many countries including the UK. These are often found in urban settings, where they sometimes even breed in holes in brick walls.

Canon EOS-1D X Mark II + 300mm f2.8 lens + 2x III extender; 1/800 sec at f7.1; ISO 3200; tripod.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021 is at M Shed, Princes Wharf, Wapping Rd, Bristol, BS1 4RN until June 5, 2022. Tickets can be purchased through Bristol Museums. Booking a time slot in advance is recommended, to guarantee entry.

Main image: Head to head by Stefano Unterthiner, Wildlife Photographer of the Year (Winner, Behaviour: Mammals)

Read more: Prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021 exhibition to open at M Shed

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