Winners Of The Nature TTL Photography Contest In 2021
The winners of the annual Nature TTL photography contest have just been announced. This contest received 8,000 high-quality and standard images in 9 different categories, among which the primary and overall winners of 2021 have been reported.
Nature TTL is the world’s leading online resource for nature photography. In the last edition of the Canadian photographer’s competition, Thomas Vijayan received the grand prize of the round for the picture “The World Turns Upside Down.” In this photo, Thomas shows an orangutan climbing a tree with its image reflected in the water.
Will Nichols, the founder of Nature TTL, said of this year’s winning work:
Thomas’ work is truly unique. The jury immediately noticed this picture. This picture is one of those pictures that you can’t easily pass by. This work’s unique perspective and composition will instantly make you think and discover what you are looking at.
Thomas Vijayan says about his winning work:
This picture means a lot to me; Because the orangutan population is decreasing at an alarming rate; Deforestation and humans are the main reason for this problem. Trees over 1,000 years old, which are the principal capital of our planet, are cut down for palm oil plantations.
As humans, we have many options to replace oil; But orangutans have no choice but to lose their homes. I am thrilled to see that this picture has been successful and allows me to share this with the whole world.
(Click on the images to see them in their original size)
Overall winner and animal behavior category winner
- Photo Title: The world turns upside down
- Name of the photographer: Thomas Vijayan
- Photography Location: Borneo
- Equipment: Nikon D850 camera with 8-15 mm lens
Thomas Vijayan says in the explanation of this photo:
After staying in Borneo for a few days, this frame was going through my mind. To take this photo, I chose a tree in the water to get a good reflection of the sky and the leaves on the tree. Water, like a mirror, makes the image appear upside down. Then I climbed the tree and waited for hours. This route is a standard route used by orangutans, so I got the result of my patience.
2nd runner-up in the animal behavior category
- Photo Title: Surprised caught fish
- Name of the photographer: Yohan Vander
- Photography Location: South Africa
- Equipment: Canon 7D Mark II camera with Sigma 150-600mm lens
At the moment of being hunted by a crocodile, the fish has a surprised look that makes this image stand out.
Acclaimed winner of the Animal Behavior category
- Photo title: Khakbazi
- Photographer’s name: Binus Mathe
- Photography Location: South Africa
- Photography equipment: Nikon D5 with 200 mm lens
Wild puppies play in the dust from the arid soil under their feet. The photographer followed them for five weeks to be able to take pictures of them in attractive situations.
Photo courtesy of the camera trap
- Photo Title: Starry night
- Photographer’s name: Binus Mathe
- Photography equipment: Nikon D800 with 15mm lens
The shadowy design of the yellow deer against the starry night sky. During the 45 seconds, this image was taken, the deer’s motion covered different parts of the sky, creating a ghostly effect.
The winner of the landscape category
- Photo Title: Tree of Life
- Photographer’s name: Jay Road
- Photography location: Suchab River, Namibia
- Photography equipment: Canon 5D Mark III with 100-400 mm lens
suspended in time; A sense of anticipation has enveloped this valley, which seems like nothing has happened in a thousand years. Like a blackened hand, the shadow of the ancient Khashter tree follows the delicate footprint of the Suchab river, hoping never to return to its previous life.
Featured photo in the landscape category
- Photo Title: The way to Rome
- Photographer name: Luigi Rupolo
- Photography location: Rome (Ram), northwest of Scotland
- Photography equipment: Nikon D850 with 21 mm lens
At sunset on the Isle of Eigg, you’ll be treated to beautiful colors and stunning clouds drifting over the rolling hills of Scotland. To take this photo, Rupolo was well away from the coastline; By following the residual patterns that the tides had created in the sands, he could capture the maximum possible reflection in the image with a 90-second exposure.
The second winner of the small world category
- Photo Title: Nature’s trap
- Photographer’s name: Samantha Stephens
- Photography location: Algonquin Wildlife Research Station, Canada
- Photography equipment: Canon 5D Mark III camera with a 15mm Lavava macro lens
Recently, researchers at the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station discovered that immature spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) are preyed upon by northern carnivores and pitcher plants. During their fall migration, they cross swamps from aquatic spawning grounds to find wintering sites on the forest floor. It is the first discovery of salamanders, which unfortunately trap them in northern potted plants. More than 20% of plants in Algonquin Park are hunting salamanders! This phenomenon has not been recorded for any other populations of northern pitcher plants. What researchers have yet to figure out is how salamanders get trapped. Spotted salamanders have long been recognized as an essential feeding cyclers, and this discovery expands our understanding of the role of salamanders.
The day I took this picture, I followed researchers doing their daily plant survey. Jars usually contain only one salamander bait at a time, although sometimes they catch several salamanders. When I saw a pitcher plant with two salamanders floating and rotting on the liquid surface of the pitcher plant, I knew that this moment was special and fleeting. The next day, both salamanders had sunk to the bottom of the plant and drowned.
Winner of the night sky category
- Photo Title: Eye
- Name of the photographer: Ivan Pedretti
- Photography Location: Norway
- Photography equipment: Sony A7R II camera with Sony 16-35mm lens
On the beach of Otaklio in Norway, specific stones look like eyes. This work was recorded against the beautiful colors of the northern lights.
Acclaimed photo of the night sky
- Photo Title: Under Shafaq bridge
- Name of the photographer: Yohan Samochenko
- Photography location: Kirkjufell mountain, Iceland
- Photography equipment: Nikon D750 with Nikon 16 mm lens
A beautiful image of the aurora borealis with an unusual arc on top of Kirkjufell mountain in Iceland.
Winner of the underwater category
- Photo Title: Manta spaceship
- Photographer’s name: Grant Thomas
- Photography location: Maldives
- Photography equipment: Canon 5D Mark IV camera with Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens
Manta rays are omnivores that maintain their enormous size by consuming large amounts of plankton and crustaceans. Maldives is one of the only places in the world where you can dive at night with these magnificent animals. Grant Thomas says about photographing this table fish:
To capture this image, I lay flat on the sand and stared at a manta ray feeding on a cloud of planktonic creatures. After some time, the manta came closer to me until finally, I captured this photo of it.
Admired underwater photo
- Photo Title: My New Toy
- Photographer’s name: Celia Kujala
- Photography Location: Hornby Island, Canada
- Photography equipment: Nikon D500 with Tokina 10-17mm fisheye lens
Play is essential in developing young Shetler sea lions; they love to play with anything they can find in their environment. While snorkeling at Norris Rocks on Hornby Island, Canada, Celia Kujala saw this young sea lion playing with a starfish.
While I was watching the sea lion, he swam towards me to show me his beautiful toy. I was able to capture this image at the same time. Unfortunately, Steller’s sea lions are listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. I hope that people, seeing the playfulness of these sea lions, will connect with them and find a desire to protect them and their environment.
Featured photo in the Urban Wildlife category
- Photo Title: Door
- Name of the photographer: Jose Luis Ruiz Jimenez
- Photography equipment: Nikon D4S camera and Nikon 600mm f/4G lens
A colorful image of a barn owl peeking out of the door of an old abandoned house.
The overall winner of the under-16 category
- Photo Title: Unable to choose
- Photographer’s name: Thomas Easterbrook
- Photography equipment: Nikon D7500 camera with Nikon 18-300mm lens
This photo was taken when we were observing a hardest when suddenly, this bird appeared and attacked the hardest. There were so many starlings that the alien bird was left to attack which one of them.
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