Young photographer of the Year: Puffins billing on Skomer - George Lanstone-Futcher Location: Skomer, Wales, UK Caption: George snapped this photo of these two Puffins, captured in the early evening on The Wick on Skomer Island. They are engaged in Billing, a part of their mating and courtship ritual. Equipment: Canon EOS 2000D Camera with Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens. ISO 200, f7.1, 1/10
RUNNER-UP Young Photographer of the Year: Sun-bathed Brahminy - Anushree Parihar Location: Hadwani, Uttarkhand, India Caption: Anushree took this photo in India of this couple of Brahminy starlings enjoying the first rays of sun and communicating with one another. Equipment: NIKON CORPORATION COOLPIX P950 F6.5 1/250 s 357.00mm ISO 180 White Balance Auto No flash
WINNER Photographer of the Year: Talks at dawn - Agnieszka Florczyk. Location: Barycz Valley, Poland Caption: Agnieszka took this photo at dawn on an overgrown pond in the Barycz valley, where grebes communicate vividly with each other by tooting, dancing and offering gifts in the form of aquatic plants. Equipment: Nikon D5 Nikkor f/2,8 400mm + TC 1,7 iso 2000 1/2500s f/4,8 680mm
RUNNER-UP Photographer of the Year : Morning call - Adrian Soldati Location: Budongo, Uganda Caption: Adrian captured this image of the alpha male of a wild chimpanzee community who is producing a long distance vocalisation early in the morning to coordinate movements with the other group members that are scattered in the forest and out-of-sight. Equipment: I used a Nikon D500 camera with a Tamron SP 70-200 2.8 IS lens. The settings I used were 1/400 of a second, aperture f 2.8, ISO 5000, and 165 mm. I took the photograph in the Budongo Forest, in Uganda.

Feathered friends scoop top prizes in Royal Society of Biology Photography Competition

Oct 07 2022

The Royal Society of Biology has announced the winners of this year’s Photography Competition, with two amateur photographers named as Photographer and Young Photographer of the Year. The competition invites amateur photographers aged 18 and over to submit photographs based around a particular theme, for a chance to win £1000. The Young Photographer of the Year competition is open to those under the age of 18, and offers a prize of £500.

The theme of this year’s competition was ‘Communication’, which saw entries capturing the sharing of information within and between different species, such as in the colouration of feathers, flowers and fur, as well as courtship behaviour and territorial displays.

The winning entry for Young Photographer of the Year, taken by 11-year-old George Lanstone-Futcher from Kent, depicts two Puffins billing on Skomer. Puffins mate for life and billing is a part of their mating and courtship ritual. They often live for over 30 years so this communication is an essential part of their journey to being connected for life.

Commenting on his recent win, George said: “I am so grateful to the RSB for choosing my photograph as the winning entry, I’m very surprised and happy to have been chosen. I was lucky to spend 3 days on Skomer Island and inspiration was everywhere, but Puffins are the best, as everyone knows!”

The winner for the Photographer of the Year is Agnieszka Florczyk, who took a photo of two Red-necked Grebe’s during mating season in Poland. The photo was taken at dawn on an overgrown pond in the Barycz valley, where grebes communicate vividly with each other by tooting, dancing and offering gifts in the form of aquatic plants.

“I am very excited and grateful that the judges noticed my picture,” says Agnieszka, “this spectacle with the Red-necked Grebes is always something special, the birds are fully focussed on each other. In this picture, we can see the close relationship between the birds and I’m very glad I was able to capture this exact moment. The most important aspect for me is the contact with natures itself.”

The winners of the competition were announced at the RSB Annual Awards Ceremony on 6th October at Carlton House Terrace, as part of this year’s Biology Week.

The competition was judged by: Alice Campain, CABI; Tim Harris, Nature Picture Library and Bluegreen Pictures; Tom Hartman, The University of Nottingham; Alex Hyde, natural history photographer and Linda Pitkin, underwater photographer.

More information online