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Organised
by BBC Wildlife magazine and The Natural History Museum in
association with The Fauna and Flora Preservation Society
and sponsored by British Gas, this is an annual event, which
is now the largest and most prestigious of its kind in the
world.
Its
aim is to gather together, the best wildlife images taken
by photographers throughout the world, and to emphasise through
such photographs the beauty, wonder and importance of the
natural world.
The
competition, which offers more than £10,000 in prize
money, is announced in the spring in issues of BBC Wildlife,
and has a closing date at the end of June.
The winning shots are published in a supplement to the December
issue of the magazine and, together with at least 100 commended
entries, are exhibited at the Natural History Museum in London.
The exhibition also goes on tour.
For the first time the 1991 British Gas Award for the Wildlife
Photographer of the Year was presented for a portfolio collection
of images rather than a single photograph.
The
competition comprises numerous categories including The Underwater
World. Winner of this category was Jeffrey Rotman from USA
with a photograph of an Anemone with a Symbiotic Shrimp taken
with a Nikonos 11, 28 mm lens with 2: 1 extension tubes at
f22 on Kodachrome 64. Runner-up was Allen Campbell, also from
USA, with a photograph of a Goby on a Red Coral taken with
a housed Nikon F3, 55 mm macro lens, two strobes at f16 on
Fujichrome Velvia. Highly commended for two of her photographs
was Linda Pitkin, a BSoUP member, with photographs
of a Shoal of Silversides and a Transparent Shrimp and Anemone.
Also highly commended were Andy Belcher from New Zealand with
a photograph of a Red Sea Urchin and Richard Herrmann from
USA with a photograph of a Shovelnose Guitarfish.
Other
underwater photographs amongst the winners included Frans
Lanting from the Netherlands and Wildlife Photographer of
the Year, whose portfolio included a photograph of Lily Pads.
Shot in the Okavango River from below, Frans took his winning
shot in the In Praise of Plants category by holding his breath
and plunging beneath the surface of the crocodile infested
river with his housed Nikon and wide-angle lens.
BSoUP
member Pam Kemp won The World in Our Hands category
for her photograph of an shark with net marks. Sadly the short-nosed,
black-tailed shark died soon after it had been released from
Seychelles fishermen's nets by Pam and her late husband, Willy.
The shot was taken.with a Nikonos V, 15 mm lens using flash
on Fujichrome film.
Jeffrey
Rotman was highly commended for his photographs of Parrotfish
Skin and Eye of Wrasse in the Composition and Form category,
which Richard Herrmann also from USA won with a photograph
of Commensal Fish and Jellyfish.
An
exhibition of prints of the winning photographs and 40 of
the commended photographs (produced with the assistance of
the Ilford Photo Company), together with an audio-visual display
of another 65 commended slides are on display at The Natural
History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London until
5 May 1992. The Museum is open to the public from Monday to
Saturday from 10.00 a.m. until 6.00 p.m. and on Sunday from
1.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. Admission is free after 4.30 p.m. Monday
to Saturday, so why not call in before the next BSoUP meeting?
Wildlife
Photographer of the Year
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