The Big picture Natural World Photography Contest, Which Captures The Rich Diversity Of Life And Thereby Protects The Environment And Wildlife, Recently Announced Its 2021 Winners.

BigPicture is a nature photography competition that welcomes high-quality nature, wildlife, and conservation photography worldwide. The competition is judged by a panel of nature and conservation photography experts, including Susie Strahsch, Morgan Heim, and Sophie Stafford.

This competition is divided into seven different categories, including “Nature Art,” “Aquatic Life,” “BirdLife,” “Landscapes, Aquatic Landscapes and Plant Life,” “Terrestrial Wildlife,” “Man/Nature,” and “Illustrated Story: “Unusual” was held, and for the last category, it was necessary to submit 4 to 6 pictures with an explanation.

In this 2021 contest, a grand prize of $5,000 will be awarded the best overall image. This image will also be displayed at the annual exhibition of the California Academy of Sciences.

The first place in all seven categories will receive $1,000 in cash, and their pictures will enter the exhibition. Stay with us to see these pictures.

Grand prize winner

• Image title: Hope among the ashes
• Photographer’s name: Jo-Ann McArthur
• Photography location: Australia

Jo-Ann MacArthur won the competition’s grand prize for her striking photo of a female gray kangaroo with a baby in her pouch. Shortly after a devastating fire near the southeast coast of Australia, MacArthur encountered a family of two. This fire burned and destroyed more than 17 million hectares of Australia in 2019 and 2020.

For the photographer, the captured image is more than highlighting two of Australia’s most iconic species, the kangaroo and the eucalyptus tree in the background; Because this moment symbolizes hope and shows that life can go on against all odds.

• Category: Art of Nature
• Image title: Rain dance
• Name of the photographer: Sarang Naik
• Photography Location: India

The Nature Art category showcases the best abstract natural or scientific concepts with endless creative possibilities. Sarang Naik’s winning photo depicts a golden dust of spores rising from the pores of a mushroom cap in India.

Few of these spores sit on the ground and prepare to produce new mushrooms. Still, more of them make their way into the atmosphere to form a solid core from condensing water into clouds and rain, protecting forests worldwide and future generations of fungi. Due to the worsening of droughts following climate change, fewer fungi will sprout, less rain will occur; and as a result, Earth should expect more severe droughts in the future.

• Category: Aquatic life
• Image title: New student
• Photographer’s name: Yong-Sen Woo
• Photography Location: Oceania

By trying to win the divers’ trust and get their permission to join them, Yong-Sen-woo captured this image in one of the best diving spots in the world, in the southern part of Palau.

• Category: Winged life
• Image title: Beak to Beak
• Photographer’s name: Shane Colin
• Photography Location: Canada

Shane Collin from Vancouver, Canada, won first place in this category with a close-up of two ravens preening on each other’s feathers. This photographer had observed the mating behaviors of these birds, including gift-giving, singing, and grooming, in three winters, But he had never encountered such a moment.

• Category: landscapes, water landscapes, and plant life
• Image title: Another planet
• Photographer’s name: Fran Rubia
• Photography Location: Iceland

Fran Rubia captured an aerial drone image of iron oxide deposited by past eruptions and on the flanks of volcanoes in the Fjallabak Conservation Area. The last outbreak in this place happened in 1480. Rubia says about her winning image:

Since this image seems to be depicted in another world and on another planet, I also think that this spot is a primitive place without any human changes, which makes it more special.

• Category: Wildlife, land animals
• Image title: Boss
• Photographer’s name: Michelle Wahlberg
• Photography Location: Northern British Columbia

The image above by Michelle Wahlberg shows a Kermode bear (a species of American black bear) on a remote island in northern British Columbia. Wahlberg is a Nikon ambassador and the first National Geographic photographer living in Canada. To record this scene, he waited for the moment the bear took its head out of the water and shook it so the water droplets spread around.

For Wahlberg, wildlife photography is about looking into the eyes of wildlife that reflect us. Doing this, we will understand that we are ultimately and intrinsically intertwined.

• Category: Man/Nature
• Title of the image: Jazoromed badge
• Photographer’s name: Ralph Pace

The production of single-use plastic has increased dramatically over the past year, which has had a devastating effect on the environment. Gloves and masks have ended up in landfills or found their way into the oceans. The consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has also made its way to wildlife, are depicted by Ralph Pace.

This touching photo shows a curious California sea lion facing a mask floating in the water. Peter says about this:

It was the first time I had ever seen a mask underwater, But this sea lion has likely seen a lot more than that.

• Category: illustrated story; unusual
• Collection title: Ice bears
• Photographer’s name: Peter Meter

Bears face impacts from climate change and other human activities that have led to scattered salmon runs, reduced river flows, and shorter winters. All this endangers the lives of the bears and makes it difficult for them to survive. Peter Mather won this category for his photos of grizzly bears in Canada’s Yukon Territory.

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