The third edition of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s Environmental Photography Award has come to a close and this year’s grand prize winner is Dutch photographer Jasper Doest. Taking home the coveted title of Environmental Photographer of the Year 2023, the young photographer will also receive a grant of €5,000/$5,458 plus the opportunity to visit the University of Ecuador’s Amazon Research Station in the heart of the Ecuadorian jungle plus an invitation to the awards ceremony in Monaco. 

His winning image titled Fight to the Death shows a gripping scene of an elephant battling for survival after being hit by a freight train in the Gabon Lopé National Park. The elephant pictured in this image suffered a broken hip and sadly later died but its meat was distributed to the park’s local community. As gruesome as the image is, it shows the devastating effects human infrastructure has on wildlife which is why it was also awarded first place in the human versus nature category. 

 • Check out the best cameras for wildlife photography so you can capture animals in their natural habitat

In the hope the image will inspire change and force people to take responsibility, Doest commented, “As I recall this gruesome scene along the railway, I am haunted not only by the tragedy that occurred as the elephant needed to be killed after the accident, but mainly by the larger story of human greed that underlies it–there is a railway that runs through a National Park, primarily for the purpose of transporting a valuable mineral.”

This year’s competition received an overwhelming response, with over 2,300 photographers from across the globe submitting a staggering 10,000 images. These entries were meticulously evaluated by a prestigious panel of professional photographers across five categories: Polar Wonders, Into the Forest, Ocean Worlds, Humanity Versus Nature, and Change Makers: Reasons for Hope. In addition to these categories, the Public Award, chosen through over 5,000 public votes, and the Students’ Award, determined by high school students in Monaco, added an extra layer of recognition. In total a prize fund of €11,000 (roughly $12,007) was awarded to the winning photographers. 

Sergio Pitamitz, the president of the jury, emphasized the significance of photography as a powerful tool in giving voice to threatened wildlife and biodiversity. He commended the Environmental Photography Award for providing a platform for photographers to not only showcase their captivating images but also convey essential conservation messages. Pitamitz also expressed admiration for the competition’s steadfast commitment to preserving the environment and the diverse living world.

For those who wish to witness these thought-provoking images firsthand, the exhibition can be visited on the Promenade du Lavotto in Monaco before it sets off on a global exhibition. To view the full selection of winning images, head to the Photocrowd website.

The best lenses for bird photography and wildlife will help you to capture animals in their natural habitat without disturbing them

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Ed Donnelly has been a fixture in Damariscotta Mills the past two springs. The disabled veteran has remained at his post on the bridge since early May, taking pictures of osprey and eagles feasting on alewives.

Long after professional photographers have come and gone, Donnelly remains, hoping to get another great shot with his long zoom lens.

An Air Force veteran, Donnelly flew air cargo planes for 21 years. He started flying C 130s, and then C 141s, C27s, and finished with C17s. He flew transport planes all over the world, and was stationed in Germany and in Panama, as well as state side.

He was medically retired after losing a leg in a motor vehicle accident. “I loved every minute of my military career,” he said.

After his accident and a couple of years in a hospital, Donnelly started his second career with the Veterans Affairs, working on disability claims for the next 15 years. “I am double retired now,” Donnelly said.

He adopted a couple of kittens and started taking pictures of them. After taking “several hundred” pictures of his cats, he gravitated toward more challenging nature photography. Donnelly moved to Newcastle in May of 2020, and caught the end of the alewife run. He was hooked after that.

He calls his photography a hobby. “I took plenty of pictures in the Air Force in the old film camera days,” he said.

He has a knack for capturing birds in flight, diving, and fighting. He loves the action the fish ladder at Damariscotta Mills offers him. He spends a couple of hours almost every day in May and June photographing birds in the Mills. He stops there a couple of days a week during the rest of the summer.

He has two camera setups, a Sony Alfa 1, and an Olympus OM-1. He uses a 200-600 ml zoom lens.

“Birds, especially raptors have always fascinated me,” he said. “I do shoot backyard birds as well.”

He has had pictures published in an Audubon calendar, and has donated pictures for corporate calendars.

All his pictures are on a flicker page called LennyCarl08. He has over 25,000 images on his flicker account, but he said does not have a favorite picture.

“It is hard to say,” he said. “Really good osprey and eagle stuff; an osprey coming out of the water with an alewife; an osprey diving with the tip of its talons hitting the water. I have a couple of eagles fighting, a couple of osprey fighting, and osprey and eagles fighting.

Donnelly shoots in the cold and the heat, but not the rain. “Cameras are too expensive to get wet,” he said.

Donnelly said he enjoys people stopping by to ask questions. They stop to ask what he is looking for, if he needs help, or for directions.

Although parked in his wheelchair in the middle of the bridge, Donnelly does not fear traffic. “You have to watch out for dropping fish,” he said. “The seagulls drop them in the middle of the road.”

Although the alewife run is over, raptors are still present to capture fish heading back out to sea, dead fish, or stragglers. Of floating fish, Donnelly said, “Eagles just pounce on them. Osprey will not go for the dead fish, but the eagles love them. Eagles will eat anything.”

“It is absolutely fun,” Donnelly said of shooting pictures and chatting with bird watchers, other photographers, and Mills residents.

A macro photographer who was out capturing pictures of isopods with his friends in Singapore stumbled across an entirely new species with the orange and black striped pill bug now aptly named the Singapore Tiger.

Photographer Nicky Bay tells PetaPixel that he thinks of his work documenting bugs and insects as like collecting Pokémon. “Gotta catch them all!” He says.

The Singapore Tiger appears to be a previously undiscovered type of isopod, which may come as a surprise given its striking appearance.

“The exciting part is that this species has not been recorded anywhere before, even with just photos,” Bay says.

“Also, we know of several other species in the region that had been dubbed various ‘Tiger’ names but this species was the most beautiful, with the brightest orange and most distinct stripes, closest to that of a tiger.”

Bay humbly points out that when compared to the world of vertebrates, there are numerous invertebrates unknown to science so “finding a species new to science isn’t too uncommon.”

However, the distinct look of the Singapore Tiger isopod makes it stand out and a “rigorous review” is needed to officially confirm it.

“So far, isopodologists have not been able to match it with any existing genus in the family so it is quite safe to say that it is new,” explains Bay.

The isopodologist who ultimately publishes the paper describing the new species will get the honor of naming the new creature.

“Most new species are named based on how the species looks like, or based on defining traits of that species,” he says.

“Sometimes, it could be named after a person in honour of some particular achievements in the field.”

Macro Photographer

Bay has been shooting macro photos for 15 years and much like a Pokémon trainer, he attempts to document as many species as he can.

“I like to shoot all microfauna because they exist right under our noses and many of them look really bizarre,” he says. “Because of that, I like to call macro photography a window to an alien world.”

For his photos, Bay uses an entry-level Olympus OM-D EM10 Mark 4 with a Laowa 50mm 2:1 macro lens and a small flash.

“For macro photography, most macro lenses are sufficient. The most important aspect would be the light diffusion rather than the lens or camera body,” he adds.

More of Bay’s work can be found on his website and Flickr.

Image credits: All photos by Nicky Bay.

BOSTON — Project Save Photograph Archives announced this week a major move to a new space this summer. The new location — 600 Pleasant Street in Watertown — will feature an exhibition gallery and larger office space.

When its doors open this fall, Project Save will be one of the few hubs for photography not just in the Boston area but in the entire region, featuring exhibitions from the archives, various workshops and lectures, as well as exhibits of contemporary photographers.

The move represents a significant milestone and comes less than two years under the leadership of the new executive director, Dr. Arto Vaun, who has brought a fresh perspective and transformative vision to Project Save. Vaun’s commitment to elevating Project Save’s profile and highlighting its true value has already produced a wider impact and attracted a larger audience.

Through initiatives such as the annual Artist and Research Residency, the Conversations on Photography series, and interactive new website, Project Save has launched a bold new vision to claim its rightful place in the national and international field of photographic cultural work.

Founded in 1975 by Ruth Thomasian, Project Save Photograph Archives is a groundbreaking nonprofit that champions photography as a means of preserving and sharing the global Armenian experience and social history in general. Its collection spans over 80,000 hardcopy original photographs from around the globe, making Project Save the oldest and largest such archive in the world.

According to Vaun, “We’re living in a time when once again there are forces actively trying to rewrite history and erase any traces of Armenian culture. There’s no clearer, more powerful and direct evidence to counter such attempts than photographs.”