Tusk’s Year of the Lion

This is a great concept but be very careful when compositing images, especially ones with grass as these stalks conflict with each other. Also be careful with hard edges such as bottom left of the lion cut out. Convincing composites are difficult - the real thing is hard to beat!

lovely atmospheric photo of a male lion, great sky. I would just be careful of exposure edits around the lion which creates a slight halo effect, particularly on the right side of the lion. Also always best to have subjects looking into the frame rather than out as this can make it feel cramped, so composing to have the lion on the left of the image would work well

Be careful when shooting through glass to avoid reflections. By having your lens pressed up to the glass you will limit these and make for a clearer shot. Glass also has a tendency to distort photos and make them less clear - its just not as high quality glass as what's in your lens!

Lovely portrait of this old male, in particular the catch lights in the eyes. The soft flattering light adds a very right colour platted and you have done well with your aperture control to get the eyes and nose in focus with lots of detail. Just be careful not to crop too tight, losing the hairs on the chin makes the composition just a touch cramped. Shooting wider would allow you to also rectify the slight head angle. As a general rule I try to shoot 10% wider than I plan to finish just to give me some wiggle room!

This is a cheetah, not a jaguar - cheetahs live throughout Africa and jaguars are largely in south and central America. Unfortunately this is a competition showcasing lions for year of the lion to bring awareness to the plight of this animal worldwide, so neither cats would fit the requirement, sorry!

Unfortunately this is a tiger not a lion and this competition is to highlight year of the lion and bring awareness to the plight of lions around the world. Just be careful with zoo bars too - you have done well to avoid them going through the face, but a slightly longer zoom or being closer to the bar would eliminate them entirely

Superb symmetry and very well composed and great timing to have the tongue out like that. Waiting for direct eye contact (currently looking off your right shoulder) would have elevated this even further. But all round a very good shot indeed

What a dramatic half portrait! very well composed and great character. Only comment would be to be careful to have the eye in focus, looks a touch soft with the focus on the nose. Either focusing on the eye itself or having a slightly wider depth of field would help bring some clarity into the eye.

Can definitely see what the aim was here and I am a big fan of keeping wildlife images simple, they are always more dramatic and impactful. Just be careful when using this sort of edit not to lose important features like edges of ears. This sort of edit can also run into difficulty with blades of grass as they disappear into nothing which can look a bit unnatural

Truly fantastic image, well done! Brilliant low angle that helps emphasise the size and power of the big male and chilling eye contact. Well timed with the paw stretched out which helps convey movement. All round a great image. Just be slightly careful of the halo effect caused by lifting the shadows on the subject, meaning the sky around the lion is slightly brighter than the rest of the sky. Top photo deserved winner