Habitats & Landscapes - Wildlife Photo

The results from our 2017 Habitats & Landscapes photo contest.

Winner: Ripan Biswas
Guide to the Galaxy
Theobald's ranid frog (Hylarana tytleri) is a frog which has a sweet chirping croak. Attracted by the sound of croaking, my search ended when I found this tiny frog on a water hyacinth in a knee-deep muddy swamp. During the monsoon the sky normally stays cloudy in my area, but for a few days in the season there are crystal clear skies because the rain washes up all of the suspended dust particles in the atmosphere. I was fortunate enough to find such a night. I approached very slowly, placing my camera on a tripod. I used an uncommon technique in this picture. I used a manual lens which has both an aperture and focusing ring. First I focused on the foreground (i.e. on the frog), pressed the shutter with a cable release and fired an off-camera flash with my other hand. Then I adjusted the focus ring to infinity. It is a 30 second exposure, with an aperture of f/8.0, shifted to f/4.0 at the end. I used a Nikon D750 with a Laowa 15mm f/4 lens to take this picture, along with a manual flash and a sturdy tripod. The photograph was taken in Coochbehar, West Bengal, India.
Runner-Up: Stefan Cruysberghs
Sunrise in Altai
This photo was taking during a very cold morning in Altai Tavan Bogd national park in Mongolia, near the border of Russia and China. We stayed overnight in a ger of some Tuvan nomads and I woke up very early to make some long exposure shots of the river, the snowy mountains and the drifting ice. There was also a herd of bactrian camels owned by the Tuvan nomads who live in this remote region. Sunrise started with some warm orange light but after 10 minutes the stunning golden light gave a beautiful contrast with the blue sky and the drifting ice on the water.
Runner-Up: Alessandro Gruzza
Pink Eruption
This photograph was taken at an altitude of 4,800 metres in the Chilean Andes. The land and sky can amaze with the variety and the colours in a location of pure wilderness. The air was chilly and incredibly clear. My lungs longed for more oxygen as I climbed the hills around Laguna Cotacotani. At dusk, the refracted sunlight cast pink hues on the landscape, dominated by the volcanic cone of Mount Parinacota (6,348 metres). The photograph was taken in Laguna Cotacotani, Lauca National Park, Chile. I used a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, a Canon 17-40mm f/4 lens at 20mm, and a 9-stop soft graduated ND filter. The exposure was 13 seconds at f/14, with an ISO of 1000.
Highly Commended: Richard Guijt
Life in the Desert
A gemsbok (Oryx gazella) in its natural habitat during sunset. Whilst driving through the red sand dunes of Namibia, I came across a gemsbok walking on the slope of a red sand dune. I waited (and hoped) for the oryx to walk towards the line in the sand. The nice side lighting provided by the setting sun that was breaking through the clouds was the icing on the cake. I used a Nikon D750 and 300mm lens at f/2.8. The exposure was 1/320sec at f/10, ISO 200.
Highly Commended: Paul Joynson-Hicks
Dune Tones
Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia. As I walked towards the Dead Vlei, these dunes were on the west side with the sun setting behind them, creating these incredible tonal ranges. I converted the colour image into black and white in post-production. I used a Nikon D3s, a 70-200mm lens, with an exposure of 1/640s at f/10 and ISO 200.
Highly Commended: Robin Karpan
Sand-choked
A small island in the sand-choked William River, where it flows through the Athabasca Sand Dunes of Saskatchewan, Canada. These are the most northerly major sand dunes in the world, and are unusual in that they are situated in boreal forest lakelands and are sliced by rivers. Except for the island and bright white sandbars, everything else in the image is below the water surface of the shallow river, where the constantly shifting sand has sculpted swirling contours of copper, chocolate, and beige on the river floor. I took this aerial photo hand-held from a float plane.
Highly Commended: Sonalini Khetrapal
Floe Traveller
'I held my breath as we do sometimes to stop time when something wonderful has touched us...' - Mary Oliver. It's difficult to describe the Arctic in words - harsh yet peaceful, barren yet alive, complex yet pure. I cruised on a small boat around Svalbard in the high arctic trying to capture these biologically rich surroundings. For thousands of years, polar bears have reigned as the top predator in the Arctic marine regions and for the most part, they remain unchallenged. Photographing these wild animals as they moved from one floe to another looking for food was the primary focus of our trip. The sea ice is receding at an alarming pace every year and global warming is having a significant impact on their hunting patterns. Our boat had to travel all the way to the 83rd parallel north to find sea ice in the month of August which is otherwise found much further south. I used a fish eye lens to capture this image. It creates a visual illusion of the sea-icescape looking like planet earth with its continents and oceans. I tried to depict the magnificence of this powerful animal as it sits atop the world in its marvellous surroundings.
Highly Commended: Stefan Cruysberghs
Sunrise at Blekerheide
Sunrise in the heathland of Blekerheide in Lommel, Belgium. The blooming period of the heath is in late August.
Highly Commended: Vladislav Kostylev
The Winter Forest
A moonlit night in the fairytale winter forest of the Ural Mountains.
Highly Commended: Yuri Pritisk
Сoast of Jackals
This image was taken on the Volga River, Russia.
Highly Commended: Nicholas Whimster
Ibex in front of the Mont Blanc Massif
On a trip to Lac Blanc for some astrophotography a group of Ibex were walking near our camping spot. After following them for a bit, one moved in front of the mountain range across the valley and I was able to take this shot before they moved down the hillside.
Highly Commended: Cristina Abilleira
Ensueño
In the lake of Cabárceno there are a lot of egrets. At dawn, just as the rays of the sun begin to awaken the day, these beautiful birds flutter among the trees.