This year I had four of my photos make the final round in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, in four different categories. Unfortunately, none of them made the final cut. All have been posted on the blog before, but here they are again.
Urban Wildlife Category — Ring Billed Gulls, Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 180mm) ISO 400, f/18 at 13 seconds
Mammals Category — Black Tailed Jackrabbit, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/200th of a second
Impressions Category — Tsessebe, Okavango Delta, Botswana Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm (at 220mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second
Plants Category — Pasque Flowers, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second
These are all excellent shots, Sean. Once again, it would be difficult to pick a favorite. Your Lady Liberty image is really spectacular. That jack rabbit image reminds me how I felt most days after commuting, followed by working long hours, followed by commuting home! It truly is hilarious. Was the rabbit attempting in vain to cool down on a hot day? The Botswana souvenir is awesome and your image of the Pasque flowers makes me mindful, believe it or not, of an image I took of 4 snowy egrets huddled behind a dike on a very windy day in Arcata. Enjoy the accolades that are due!
Thanks Sue. And yes, the jackrabbit was doing its best to stay cool. The temperature had reached 122 degrees the day before in the desert. Their ears have capillaries in them that help to cool the rest of the body.
of course your happy band of fans thinks you are always a winner! And being your proud mother, how could I think any differently. Believe it or not, in my new home, I don’t have enough wall space to hang all my favorites!
Sean, ALL Amazing shots!!! I look forward everyday to your morning photo’s. It’s a wonderful way to start my day! I’m always excited before I open them in anticipation of what today’s photo will be!! You’re always a winner at the Zanko house. Gold medal, blue ribbon, whatever the prize. Thank you for sharing your art, it’s so full of passion and love of the subject matter and your camera!! Keep it up, I love these daily gifts!!!!
All superb entries, Sean!!! I can’t pick a favorite! First place is nice, but being a finalist is not to be taken for granted. You are one of the finest photographers on this planet.
You are a winner to us all for the bringing the wonders of Nature to our screens everyday , and all its Beauty seen through your eyes so know you have made our days a little more enjoyable
with your posts
Thanks Aunt Sue. In a month or so, I’ll be visiting my Mom down in Florida and hopefully meeting a few of the great creatures you guys have down there.
Great to see the images again(2 of them l don’t remember).
Lovely images in all 4 categories.
The shot with Liberty & gulls is particularly good. When l 1st looked at it l didn’t notice the gulls in the lower, darker section(l was on a 6″ Smart phone).
Please forgive me for feeling that the category you entered into took a little while for me to observe the ‘Wildlife’ element of the image. It felt that the very attractive composition & level of brightness drew my eye away from the main subject(?), the gulls & more to the landscape composition of the whole shot.
I wonder if a little lift8ng of the light to br8ng forward the resting gulls might make a better balance?
I see that the gulls are resting & since it’s an Urban Wildlife you may have intended to let them recede into the darker foreground as part of the interpretation of the brief by letting the Wildlife ‘Hide’ in its proximity to the city. The intention to show the ‘Low Key’ manner in which ‘Urban Wildlife’ has to give way to the business & power of a metropolis as part of the cost of living within/close by it.
PS: The above is not intended in any way as ‘Criticism’, it is meant as ‘feedback’ from a single individual’s perspective. I’m certainly not going to take any chance of ‘criticism’ as l realise your mother takes a keen interest in your work!
Thanks for the feedback Con. Interestingly, I originally shot this as an HDR image in order to expose for the gulls and the statue. I ended up liking one of the five frames as is so decided to skip the blending process. The intent was to clearly show the gulls. I suppose I could have lightened it up a tad more. I tend to have pretty bright monitors and sometimes my images may appear dark on devices and monitors that aren’t quite as bright. Next year I should try the HDR image and see if that pushes it over the top into the winning round.
The New York skyline looks like there’s buildings in the water super cool shot I had to look really close the reflection of the silver bands makes it look like they’re all buildings in the water and the jackrabbit looks like I’m done it’s hot I so admire your work and it really inspires me to keep going you’re always a winner in my eyes keep up the great work it’s a great part of my day thank you
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Urban Wildlife Category — Ring Billed Gulls, Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York
Mammals Category — Black Tailed Jackrabbit, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California
Impressions Category — Tsessebe, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Plants Category — Pasque Flowers, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Love the ring billed gulls shot. Amazing.
Thanks Ken. Hope all is well in Memphis.
These are all excellent shots, Sean. Once again, it would be difficult to pick a favorite. Your Lady Liberty image is really spectacular. That jack rabbit image reminds me how I felt most days after commuting, followed by working long hours, followed by commuting home! It truly is hilarious. Was the rabbit attempting in vain to cool down on a hot day? The Botswana souvenir is awesome and your image of the Pasque flowers makes me mindful, believe it or not, of an image I took of 4 snowy egrets huddled behind a dike on a very windy day in Arcata. Enjoy the accolades that are due!
Thanks Sue. And yes, the jackrabbit was doing its best to stay cool. The temperature had reached 122 degrees the day before in the desert. Their ears have capillaries in them that help to cool the rest of the body.
I have never been disappointed by your photographs, except once, and even that was worth a good long look. Thanks for taking the trouble.
of course your happy band of fans thinks you are always a winner! And being your proud mother, how could I think any differently. Believe it or not, in my new home, I don’t have enough wall space to hang all my favorites!
—– Good show x 4 .
—– Thank you once again !
Thanks Peter.
Great Photos
Simply amazing photos. Your talent abounds all spectrums!
Thanks Liz. Really appreciate it.
Sean, ALL Amazing shots!!! I look forward everyday to your morning photo’s. It’s a wonderful way to start my day! I’m always excited before I open them in anticipation of what today’s photo will be!! You’re always a winner at the Zanko house. Gold medal, blue ribbon, whatever the prize. Thank you for sharing your art, it’s so full of passion and love of the subject matter and your camera!! Keep it up, I love these daily gifts!!!!
Nice to hear Marcia. Thanks for continuing to tune in every morning.
Congratulations on your achievements! Your photos are mesmerizing and I look forward to them daily.
Hi Karen. Thanks for checking in every day.
All amazing. You were robbed!
Ha. Thanks Angelina. Next year.
All superb entries, Sean!!! I can’t pick a favorite! First place is nice, but being a finalist is not to be taken for granted. You are one of the finest photographers on this planet.
Thanks Rachel. And, of course, the true win is getting to spend so much time amongst all these amazing animals.
You nailed it. And sometimes the shot you didn’t get remains as a wonderful memory!
Your compositions are truly unique. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to seeing what’s next you have such a awesome variety.
Thanks Jill. Nice to hear.
Well done Sean
Beautiful work
Thanks Pedro. Best to Amy and Jackson.
Really enjoyed that. The NY pic with the seagulls was wonderful.
Congrats on recognition of your work.
Thanks Gray. Always nice to get one so close to home. Not always easy to spot the wildlife in the city.
YOU SHOULD HAVE WON IT ALL! Congratulations though Crane. You honestly have too many beautiful photographs to count.
Thanks Shardae. See you soon.
These are amazing Sean. You should have won.
Thanks Patti. And FYI, looking good in your recent Facebook selfie.
You are a winner to us all for the bringing the wonders of Nature to our screens everyday , and all its Beauty seen through your eyes so know you have made our days a little more enjoyable
with your posts
Aunt Sue
Thanks Aunt Sue. In a month or so, I’ll be visiting my Mom down in Florida and hopefully meeting a few of the great creatures you guys have down there.
These are all fantastic photos & the bottom one reminds me so much of the trees in the Lorax! Great work!
Definitely Amanda. Pretty cool looking flowers. And this is after they’ve lost their petals.
I’m so proud. Beautiful Beautiful work.
Thanks KRobs.
Great to see the images again(2 of them l don’t remember).
Lovely images in all 4 categories.
The shot with Liberty & gulls is particularly good. When l 1st looked at it l didn’t notice the gulls in the lower, darker section(l was on a 6″ Smart phone).
Please forgive me for feeling that the category you entered into took a little while for me to observe the ‘Wildlife’ element of the image. It felt that the very attractive composition & level of brightness drew my eye away from the main subject(?), the gulls & more to the landscape composition of the whole shot.
I wonder if a little lift8ng of the light to br8ng forward the resting gulls might make a better balance?
I see that the gulls are resting & since it’s an Urban Wildlife you may have intended to let them recede into the darker foreground as part of the interpretation of the brief by letting the Wildlife ‘Hide’ in its proximity to the city. The intention to show the ‘Low Key’ manner in which ‘Urban Wildlife’ has to give way to the business & power of a metropolis as part of the cost of living within/close by it.
PS: The above is not intended in any way as ‘Criticism’, it is meant as ‘feedback’ from a single individual’s perspective. I’m certainly not going to take any chance of ‘criticism’ as l realise your mother takes a keen interest in your work!
Thanks for the feedback Con. Interestingly, I originally shot this as an HDR image in order to expose for the gulls and the statue. I ended up liking one of the five frames as is so decided to skip the blending process. The intent was to clearly show the gulls. I suppose I could have lightened it up a tad more. I tend to have pretty bright monitors and sometimes my images may appear dark on devices and monitors that aren’t quite as bright. Next year I should try the HDR image and see if that pushes it over the top into the winning round.
The New York skyline looks like there’s buildings in the water super cool shot I had to look really close the reflection of the silver bands makes it look like they’re all buildings in the water and the jackrabbit looks like I’m done it’s hot I so admire your work and it really inspires me to keep going you’re always a winner in my eyes keep up the great work it’s a great part of my day thank you
Thanks Karen. Very nice to hear.
Four in the final round is a testament to the great body of work you have.
Thanks Rick. Of course, one of these days I hope to go beyond the finalist round.