If you’re interested in getting into bird photography, there’s one competition you must check out. The Bird Photographer of the Year awards never fails to inspire with a constant annual supply of jaw-dropping frames of our feathered friends.
Well, 2020’s contest has proved to be just as popular as previous year’s with in excess of 15,000 entries from over 60 countries. While we’ll have to wait just a little longer until the grand winner is declared, the contest has announced the shortlisted entries and we’re sharing 10 spectacular frames…
First up is this epic frame of a white stork, which was captured by photographer Pavel Chekanov and has been shortlisted in the Birds In The Environment category. Pavel shot the image using a Nikon D750 paired with a 200-500mm lens.
This unusual frame shot by Gideon Knight was shortlisted for the Garden and Urban Birds category. Gideon used a Canon 5D Mark IV paired with a 100-400mm lens to capture the silhouette of a Carrion Crow.
Brad James’ image of a Savannah Sparrow was shortlisted in the Best Portrait category of the awards and captured using a Nikon D850.
Also shortlisted for the Best Portrait category was this ‘triple-the-fun’ frame from Deliang Tong, which shows a gaggle of Yellow Bittern and was shot using a Nikon D700 paired with a 70-200mm lens.
This colourful entry was taken by Simon Roy and was shortlisted in the Bird Behaviour category. Simon used a Canon EOS 7D MkII paired with a EF 500mm lens to capture this beautiful Eurasian Wren.
Georgina Steytler used split second timing to capture this amazing image of a Great Crested Grebe for the Bird Behaviour Category using a Canon 1D X DSLR paired with a EF 600mm lens and 1.4x extender.
Shortlisted for the Garden and Urban Birds category was this bokelicious entry from Ben Andrew of a Common Starling, which was captured using a Nikon D700 paired with a 70-200mm lens.
Another spectacular frame shortlisted in the Birds In Flight category was this exceptional image of a Grey Heron, which was captured by Andreas Hemb using a Sony a9 with a 400mm optic.
This backlit frame of a Ivory Gull was shortlisted in the Birds in Flight category. The image was captured by UK photographer Andy Rouse using an Olympus EM1X paired with a 40-150mm lens.
Rounding off our 10 images is this superlative frame from John Evans. His image of a Northern Gannet was shortlisted in the Best Portrait category and captured using a Canon 1D X with a 600mm lens.
