Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Main Image (above): White water fishing by Eric Lefranc from the Animal Behaviour: Mammals Category.

Showcasing some of the best nature photography in the world, the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is now in its 45th year and attracted thousands of entries.

Some of the highly commended and commended images have been announced already, while the winners will be announced on the 22 October.

Already commended are stunning images from photographers Andy Rouse, Stefano Unterthiner, Brian Matthews, Eric Lefranc (whose image is pictured above), and Doug Perrine whose images depict exotic and endangered animals including tigers, orangutans and whales and can be viewed below.

The competition is split into a range of challenging categorie, including One Earth Award, Animals in their Environment, Animal Behaviour: Mammals, The Underwater World and Animal Portraits.

Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine. The full set of almost 100 images will be on display at the Natural History Museum from 23 October 2009 until 11 April 2010.

Tickets for the exhibition are priced at £9 for adults, £4.50 for children and are free to members and patrons.

See below for more images from the exhibition, or visit the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year website for more information.

Main image:

White water fishing by Eric Lefranc
Animal Behaviour: Mammals - Highly Commended

Some of the brown bears fishing the salmon run at the Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, Alaska, were waiting at the top of the falls, others were sitting at the bottom catching salmon before they jumped, and a few big bears were simply stealing catches from young ones. Eric focused on a young bear in a turbulent spot below the falls. Neck-high in water, it spent the day pouncing, with varying success. What Eric especially liked about this shot is the intensity in the eyes of the salmon – which escaped.  

Nikon D300 + AF-S Nikkor 400mm f2.8 VR lens; 1/1000 sec at f8; ISO 280; Gitzo tripod 5540LS + Wimberley Head.

Eric Lefranc / Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

More commended images follow…



Big-mouth by Doug Perrine
The Underwater World - Highly Commended

Doug was on Golden Gate Bank off the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico, to photograph striped marlin feeding on shoaling sardines. Hunting cooperatively, the marlin herded the fish into baitballs and up towards the surface. When the marlin suddenly made a sharp exit, Doug had an ominous feeling that something was up. And that ‘something’ was a 10-metre (33-foot) ‘high-speed missile blasting through the baitball’: a Bryde’s whale.

‘Just before reaching the sardines,’ Doug says, ‘the whale opened its jaws impossibly wide and the throat pleats expanded to take in water and fish.’ And nearly Doug, too: he narrowly missed the open mouth, bouncing off the whale’s lower lip and the side of the throat pleats. The huge gulp complete, the whale’s jaws closed and the accordion-like pleats forced the water out through the baleen hanging from the upper jaw, trapping the sardines on the inside. Taking no notice of the human presence, the whale repeated its transformation from torpedo to big-mouth enough times for Doug to capture the action.   

Canon EOS 40D + Tokina 10-17mm lens at 10mm; 1/640 sec at f5.6; ISO 640; Subal C40 housing.

Doug Perrine / Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

Stalking the tiger by Andy Rouse
One Earth Award - Highly Commended

Andy and his guide Dicky Singh followed the fresh pug marks down the track. When they caught up with the tiger, they discovered it was Machali, a female very familiar to Dicky. Indeed, she’s something of a local celebrity in Ranthambore National Park. It wasn’t long before jeep-loads of tourists drew up to admire her. The drivers kept a respectful distance, but Machali is well used to such attention from the wildlife paparazzi. It has been suggested that Machali has contributed about $10 million to the local economy.

Andy believes that ‘if we are to save this wonderful cat, then it has to have an economic value to a local community, and that’s what I wanted to show with this picture.’

Nikon D3 + Nikon 70-200mm lens; 1/250 sec at f5.6; ISO 800.

Andy Rouse / Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009



Killer in the Mist by Stefano Unterthiner
Animals in their Environment - Highly Commended

The picture was taken in a torrential rainstorm on Possession Island in the sub-Antarctic Crozet Archipelago. A killer whale family was hunting king penguins and southern elephant seals just off a nearby beach. ‘Over four months, this was the first time,’ says Stefano, ‘that I saw killer whales so close to shore or to the king penguin rookery.’ The penguins were in a terrible panic, he says. ‘The drama was intense, what with the enormous male, its dorsal fin slicing through the grey water, and the simply terrible weather.’

Stefano spotted the killer whales from the cliff overlooking the beach and then spent more than three hours photographing them in whipping rain. ‘It’s one of the most unforgettable moments of my life.’  

Nikon D2X + Nikon 70-200mm lens; 1/500 sec at f7.1; ISO 250.

Stefano Unterthiner / Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009


Borneo Baby by Brian Matthews
Animal Portraits - Highly Commended

The baby could have been only a couple of months old, but its mother was used to the orangutan researchers and was comfortable for them to watch her from about 5 metres (16 feet) away. Brian was working with the researchers in Tanjung Putting National Park, Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), photographing wild orangutans in the rainforest.

When the infant stuck its tongue out, scrunched up its face and blinked, ‘it was impossible not to be reminded of a human baby.’ In fact, orangutans have the longest child-rearing period of any non-human mammal, and this baby will remain with its mother for up to nine years, learning the ways of the forest from her.   

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II + Canon 300mm f2.8L USM IS lens; 1/250 sec at f2.8; ISO 200 (-1 1/3 stop); fill-flash.

Brian Matthews / Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009