Wildlife

An interesting frame caught at precisely the right blinking moment. Exactly the right shutter speed, arguably zooming out a tad would have avoided slicing off the edge of the wing.

Photographs of plain-white subjects are tricky, but the photographer has been helped here by an overcast sky, which softens the white tones of the bird. Technicalities aside, the composition and reflections in this image are bang-on. The result is a really well-timed, artistic image that wants printing and hanging up pronto.

Blue tits are lovely little birds and I'm always pleased to see them outside my window. This rather chilly shot is beautifully done. The processing is low-key and has resulted in nicely saturated, realistic colours, and the positioning of the bird, looking across the frame, is classic. The slow shutter speed is a nice touch, blurring the snow emphasising the direction of the wind, but here it's a double edged sword, as it's robbed the subject of a little sharpness as well.

Technically speaking, this is a really accomplished shot. Lighting macro or nearly-macro subjects is really hard, combine that with getting focus right and you're looking at a pretty stern challenge. This frame is nicely imagined and captured; presumably the grasshopper was safely returned to the wild afterwards.

It is drummed into conservation photographers from an early age that anthropomorphism in photography is to be avoided: it's cloying, clichéd and lazy. Then you come across an image like this and that rather stentorian advice fades into the background: red squirrels are naturally comical little fellows and this image, which in my head I've entitled "Where on EARTH did I leave my nuts?" is hilarious. Kudos to the photographer for capturing a unique pose, particularly against a thick canopy of leaves, which, I can attest, makes red squirrels tricky subjects.

Herons are really tricky blighters: they're big, which makes focussing straightforward, but they're nervous, which means getting near one is a task in itself. This is a really nice, energetic image: the space under the bird's feet make it pop really nicely, and the position of the wings, near the bottom of the downstroke, is nice. The composition is nice too. There's a smattering of chromatic abberation on the top of the bird's head, though - always an issue is areas of extreme contrast, and a slight exposure reduction and chromatic abberation correction would solve this in seconds.

Distant views of spectacular wildlife can be frustrating: there's nothing worse than waiting for hours for a glimpse of a superstar, then seeing its backside vanish through a bush. Here, the photographer has put the habitat to good use and captured a peaceful, gorgeous shot. The dead-central subject breaks a key rule of photographic composition, making this a great example of when ignoring tedious photographic rules works perfectly. This also looks like an early morning shot, so kudos to the photographer for setting an alarm and following through!

This unusually-shaped photo is beautifully made. The shape of the bird's wings is critical to the image, and the dark background adds plenty of contrast. The pin-sharp exposure, which can make images appear a bit sterile, is relieved by the water droplets hanging off the bird's feet. The neutral space on the right of the frame is neatly judged.

This is a lovely shot, and a brave image to enter into a wildlife photography contest, where many photographers put too much stock in super-zoomed, tight-angle images that fill the frame with the subject and leave no room for anything else. This shot goes the polar opposite direction, and the result is a fascinating, tranquil image with plenty of calm, neutral space. I love the composition, with the central subject and thin line of horizon across the bottom. This needs to be in a frame.

A marvellously depressing image that sends out completely the opposite message of what a modern zoo can be. An inbred tiger standing in murky water with floating trash nearby. Not a terribly aesthetically pleasing image but then, presumably, that's the point.

Lovely. Cracking colours, great subject, and a very convenient bit of head positioning for the all-important eye contact.

Another very wide, very neutral image of a still-standing bird. And another image I really like: the flat horizon and single point of contrast makes this very arresting in a high-key sort of way. The soft-tone processing is nicely, subtly done, and this is another good example of wide-angles in wildlife photography being put to very good use.

This is a punchy shot of a dolphin that I really like. The square crop is sympathetic to the dead-centre arrangement of the subject, the water droplets are energetic, and the calm ripples ahead of the dolphin hint at tranquility in the wider scene.

Phwoar! This is an incredibly powerful image. The composition's really strong, with the curve of the whale's stomach leaning into the frame, while the water droplets falling from the whale's body give an idea of energy and scale. An amazing thing to be in front of and I think the photographer has done a good job of converting what must have been a phenomenal experience into an image. Processing-wise, it might be worth taking another run at this and adding a tack of exposure and contrast, but not too much: this shot is near-perfect as it is.