Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Welcome to the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition 2010.

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 six striking pictures that tell a powerful story. You can choose virtually any subject you like, but the sequence must work without further explanation. Prove that a picture really is worth a thousand words!

For the first time, we’re allowing stitched images (two or more pictures digitally joined together) to be entered in the Wild Places category only, on the basis that many wild places do not lend themselves to the traditional rectangular format. This fun technique is already popular with many landscape photographers – so why not experiment and have a go?

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.

Finally, how do you win? The answer is simple - originality. The judges are looking for something that stops them in their tracks, something really creative, fresh and surprising. So edit your pictures ruthlessly and then get other people to comment and even make the final selection for you (they don’t have the emotional attachment that makes it difficult for you to separate the fun and challenging shots from the really good ones).

I do hope you’ll be entering this year – and the very best of luck!

Mark Carwardine