You could stand a chance of winning this beautiful set of 3 African Fine Art Wildlife prints from MitchellKrog.com

You could stand a chance of winning this stunning set of 3 African Fine Art Wildlife Prints from award winning South African Photographer Mitchell Krog. These 3 prints and a whole lot more are currently on display at the Photo and Film Expo 2010.

The expo is a great outing for the family and a great way to support South African Photography.

Click here to enter the competition.

Win a Michael Poliza Book

Photographer Michael Poliza has been around the world providing us with breath taking aerial views above multiple fascinating continents.

From Africa to Antarctica he has never escaped a chance to share his view of the world with all of us.

Now you have the chance to interact with this multi-faceted photographer. Exclusive, never before seen pictures have just been released TODAY on his new microsite. View his new site here:

http://www.teneues.com/poliza

There you can enter his Twitter contest to win one of his books. Just capture what one of his photos means to you in a tweet, and win your very own Poliza book at http://teneues.com/poliza/contest

Hasselblad today announced that it is accepting submissions for the 2010 Hasselblad Masters Awards competition. Each year Hasselblad awards the title of Master photographers in a range of specially defined categories. Awards are granted in recognition of the photographer’s contribution to the art of photography and photographic ability in the areas of creativity, composition, conceptual strength, and technical skill.

Photographers are invited to submit up to 5 images in each of the following eleven categories: architecture, editorial, fashion/beauty, fine art, general photography, nature/landscape, portrait, product, up-and-coming, wedding/social and, for the first time, wildlife. One Master will be chosen for each of the eleven categories.

Read More

Entries now open for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010

The Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year has been stripped of his £10,000 title after judges said they suspected that the winning photograph featured a ‘trained’ animal.

Spanish photographer José Luis Rodriguez had entered a photo of an ‘Iberian wolf’ jumping over a gate.

But the competition’s strict rules ban model animals from featuring in submitted photos.

The Natural History Museum, which helps organise the competition with BBC Wildlife Magazine, today confirmed that Rodriguez has been disqualified.

As a result there will be no winner of the 2009 title.

NEWS UPDATE: Photographer faces lifetime ban

Rodriguez denies that he used a ‘model wolf’.

A spokeswoman for the Natural History Museum said organisers were saddened by the outcome of their investigation: ‘The judging panel was reconvened and concluded that it was likely that the wolf featured in the image was an animal model that can be hired for photographic purposes and, as a result, that the image had been entered in breach of Rule 10 of the competition.’

She added: ‘The judging panel looked at a range of evidence and took specialist advice from panel judges who have extensive experience of photographing wildlife including wolves. They also considered the responses to specific questions put to the photographer, José Luis Rodriguez.’

It is understood that the picture, entitled ‘Storybook Wolf’, was captured using a specially set up camera trap. The animal would have triggered the shutter by crossing an infrared beam.

Commenting on the controversy, wildlife photographer Andy Rouse told Amateur Photographer (AP): ‘The fall out from this scandal will continue for a long time and will ultimately affect the photographer, the competition and the reputation of wildlife photographers in general.’

In an exclusive article for the AP Rouse added: ‘To my knowledge no image has even been taken like this of the Iberian Wolf. It is an incredibly rare and shy animal, avoiding human contact at all costs and highly suspicious [of humans] due to years of persecution in its homeland.

‘To get this close, to get the lighting so perfect and the timing so exquisite was just incredible and I was slightly in awe of the photographer.’

José Luis Rodriguez, who lives in Spain, could not be reached for comment despite numerous emails and phone calls to his office.

His son told us that the photographer was currently on assignment in Madeira where he has been photographing ‘marine birds’.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year is billed as the world’s most prestigious photography competition of its kind.

The 2009 awards pulled in a record 43,135 entries from 94 countries.

Organisers told AP that it would be unfair to choose a new winner as the competition judging process is ‘blind’.

The museum spokeswoman said: ‘As the photographers are now known, as well as all the details about the images, it would be impossible to make an objective choice of an overall winner and it would be unfair to all the photographers who entered the competition.’

Source: http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/Wildlife_photographer_stripped_of_coveted_Veolia_title_update_1155am_news_294010.html

Entries now open for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010

Brought to you by The Natural History Museum, BBC Wildlife Magazine and Veolia Environment,  Now in its 46th year, the competition has become the international measure for great wildlife photography. It plays a crucial role in raising the profile of wildlife photography and stimulating an awareness of nature conservation, and the winning pictures are seen by millions of people around the world.

We’ve made several exciting changes to the competition this year. For example, we are introducing a brand new special award, called Wildlife Photojournalist of the Year, for the best portfolio of striking pictures that tell a powerful story.

A few other things have changed, too – we no longer allow captive animals, for example – so don’t forget to read the rules properly. Most of all, as part of our continuing efforts to encourage responsible wildlife photography, we stress that it is critically important to put the welfare of the animals and their habitats first.

Read more at: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/competition/index.jsp

Calling all photographers:

National Geographic Logo - International Photography Contest 2009

Enter the 2009 National Geographic International Photography Contest. There are three categories — people, places and nature — and you can enter a total of six photographs. Images can be black and white or color, digital or shot with conventional film, but they must be submitted digitally to http://www.ngphotocontest.com. The contest ends Oct. 31. The entry fee is $12 per photo for entries received on or before Oct. 15, and $22 per photo for entries received between Oct. 16 and Oct. 31, and winners will be announced in early December. Three international grand-prize winners will win a trip to National Geographic’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., a new camera kit, and have their image printed in National Geographic magazine. Below are some submissions from South African and abroad. Enter your photos at ngm.com, or view some winners from the past.

Attention all travelers and aspiring photographers — National Geographic wants your photographs. Readers of National Geographic around the world are invited to take part in the 2009 National Geographic International Photography Contest. Readers of the English-language edition in eight countries, as well as readers of 20 of the magazine’s international local-language editions, are eligible to participate. The international grand-prize winners will receive a trip to National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., a digital camera kit, and their winning entries will be published in all participating editions of National Geographic magazine. But act soon — the submission deadline is Oct 31, 2009. Full details can be found at http://www.ngphotocontest.com

"Vultures" by Mitchell Krog - South African entry into the National Geographic Photo Contest 2009

"Woman" by Paul Freinkel - South African Entry into the National Geographic Photo Contest 2009

The National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge, the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 370 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; live events; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 9,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program promoting geographic literacy. For more information, visit nationalgeographic.com.

"Couple" by Gemma Collier - International Entry into the National Geographic International Photo Contest 2009