That funny time of the year has arrived — and it’s not even Halloween yet.

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards has revealed the shortlisted images and videos from its 2023 competition, “all hilarious and sure to raise a cackle or a chuckle and wonder at the wonderful wildlife we share this world with.”

This year’s final shortlist of standalone photographs, videos and portfolio entries presenting a wonderfully eclectic mix of hilarious wildlife includes a kangaroo rocking the air guitar, dancing horses, an avian family dispute and an owl suffering the ‘Monday Blues’.

These images have been culled from thousands of entries submitted by professional and amateur photographers to this popular competition from around the world.

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, which also organizes the Comedy Pet Photography Awards, was co-founded in 2015 by professional photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam. They wanted to create a competition focused on the lighter, humorous side of wildlife photography as a way to promote wildlife conservation.

Each year, the competition supports a sustainable conservation organization and this year chose the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) a U.K. charity that supports conservation leaders working in their home countries across the global south.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, this charity has channelled £20 million to more than 200 conservationists in 80 countries.

The Comedy Wildlife photo awards also offers the public the chance to vote for their favorite funny photo here and enter a free drawing to win £500 offered by the competition sponsor, Affinity Photo.

The Overall Winner, Category and Highly Commended Winners will be announced on November 23, with the top image earning a one-week safari with AlexWalker’s Serian in the Masai Mara, Kenya, as well as a unique handmade trophy from the Art Garage in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

At Alaska’s Katmai National Park, grizzly bears are abundant and thus a photographers’ paradise. The challenge here is clicking a unique frame.

This image full of expression and proper eye contact by both bears is a perfect frame of love and friendship. “To get this image. I laid down flat on the water and stayed there for a long time waiting for the right moment to click,” said Thomas Viajayan.

This Great Gray Owl spent most of the afternoon in America’s Grand Teton National Park posing majestically and looking, well, wise, recalled John Blumenkamp. But for a moment or two after doing some elegant stretching, it would slump and give a look of “is Monday over yet?”

Three King Penguins emerge from the water at Islas Malvinas seemingly holding hands – er, wings.

This trip to the Seychelles was Danielle Goonan’s first big trip after getting scuba certified. She caught this Bat Fish on one of her dives.

A territorial Avocet wasn’t happy about this Egyptian Goose arriving early to place a towel on its sunbed. Fortunately, the avocet apparently was a master in the art of Kung-Fu.

While Dakota Vaccaro was working deep in the Virginian woods, a family of grey foxes took up residence under the deck of the abandoned cottage next to her location.

“One day while practicing their hunting skills on bits of moss and branches, one of the kits lunged at a small chunk of wood and started rolling around with his prize,” she recalled. “Tired after his hunt, the kit lounged on his belly still holding the wood in his mouth, which gave the strong resemblance of a cigar.”

An Atlantic puffin does an inverted snoopy impression while watching jelly fish off the Farne Islands in Great Britain’s Northumberland.

These two Wild Mustang stallions show off their athletic abilities while fighting each other in Wyoming’s McCullagh Peaks. No horses were hurt doing the tango.

This picture was taken in the monkey forest in Ubud, Bali, where monkeys are king. Sometimes they give a show; sometimes, they climb on you searchig for fleas or stealing your cookie.

A white grouse making its way through winter in Spitzberg, Norway.

A dragonfly enjoys sunrise from a horsetail surrounded by dew.

Jason Moore was driving past a mob of Western Grey Kangaroos in Perth, Australia, feeding in an open field adornded by yellow flowers. Stopping to shoot, he saw this guy seeming to strum on his air guitar.

On Alaska’s Barter Islands, a polar bear cub found this log kind of intriguing when it suddenly stood up, using it almost like a performer does.

A Sulawesi macaque turns to his local leaf to catch up on the news.

Two Great Horned owlets were having it out in Tierra Verde in west-central Florida.

Mama owl had briefly left the palm-tree nest to get some rest from these hyperactive, soon-to-be fledglings, according to Mark Schocken. Although they were having fun, in this photo, it looks like a scolding between brothers is in process.

You have to applaud this leopard’s effort impressive if futile effort to go airborne i the Masai Mara.

Actually, she is displaying her temper as she is being bothered by three young cheetahs.

I was in the jungle (at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India) when a Macaque came out of the jungle and started scratching its armpit keeping its hand straight at the same time,” said Pratick Mondal. “A deer appeared behind at that moment.”

An unusual and almost miserable end to a perfect moment, for this Striated heron that had been preparing for a successful fishing expedition in South Africa’s Zimanga Private Game Reserve.

The swamp turtle is surprised and smiling when a dragonfly lands on its nose in Israel’s Jezreel Valley.

This Snowy Owl landed outside Vince Maiden’s house in Creemore, Canada, as he was watching a movie. He grabbed his camera to capture its moment of contentmenty.

This image is part of a charming collection of photographs capturing a quartet of mischievous ground squirrels in Vienna, of all places, each engaging in their own hilarious antics as they attempt to nibble on a colorful assortment of flowers.

From the surprised expressions of the caught-in-the-act culprits to the determined munchers and the territorial nibblers, these candid moments offer a delightful glimpse into the playful and sometimes competitive world of these furry floral aficionados.

It’s paw-to-paw action as a pair of ‘Pretty Faced Wallabies’ cautiously approach each other for some fun on the beach. The image is part of a portfolio taken in Cape Hillsborough, Australia

All stand alone photographs, videos and Portfolio entriess here.

Four Poles have been shortlisted as finalists in the latest edition of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.

First launched in 2015, the competition was created to help the public empathise with and connect to the natural world.

Now celebrated internationally, the competition is open to both amateur and professional photographers with this year’s instalment attracting thousands of entrants.

In one entitled ‘Dispute’ captured by Jacek Stankiewicz from Kraków, two birds are seen embroiled in what appears to be an animated argument.Jacek Stankiewicz

These, now, have been whittled down to a shortlist of forty-one.

Of these are four photographs taken by Polish snappers.

In one entitled ‘Dispute’ captured by Jacek Stankiewicz from Kraków, two birds are seen embroiled in what appears to be an animated argument.

Bold, vibrant colours define ‘I Don’t Know’ by Jakub Wozny from Warta and shows a striking shot of a dragonfly that appears to be shrugging.Jakub Wozny

“I caught this scene while watching birds in the Bialowieza Forest,” says Stankiewicz. “The young greenfinch was still being fed by its parents, however, from time-to-time it looked like it was arguing.

“My friends interpreted this as a young, naughty kid fighting with a parent, while others thought it looked more like a kid telling a parent that its brother had done something wrong: ‘Look, he’s broken the window!’”

Bold, vibrant colours define ‘I Don’t Know’, a striking shot of a dragonfly that appears to be shrugging.

Taken by Jakub Wozny from Warta, the photo shows the creature at sunrise sitting on a horsetail reed surrounded by drops of dew.

Another Polish entry, ‘Everyone Can Fly’ by Adrian Slazok from Chorzow shows a chubby seal moving across the sands, its well-rounded frame propelled forward by enthusiastic flippers.Adrian Slazok

Another Polish entry, ‘Everyone Can Fly’, was actually shot on the eastern coast of England by Adrian Slazok from Chorzow. “I took this back in November 2018,” he says, “in the late autumn when seals leave the North Sea to give birth to their young.”

With its adorable eyes bulging, the stunning shot shows a chubby seal moving across the sands, its well-rounded frame propelled forward by enthusiastic flippers.

Arguably, however, it is ‘Now That’s A Selfie’ that’s the most amusing of the bunch. Taken by Jaroslaw Kolacz, the hilarious picture shows a swan pushing his beak into the lens of the camera. Close by, another swan can be seen approaching with menace.

Explaining the photo, Kolacz simply says, “The swan on the beach was very interested in me.”

Arguably it is ‘Now That’s A Selfie’ that’s the most amusing of the bunch. Taken by Jaroslaw Kolacz, the hilarious picture shows a swan pushing his beak into the lens of the camera. Close by, another swan can be seen approaching with menace.Jaroslaw Kolacz

Divided into different categories such as land, air and underwater, the winners will be selected shortly by a panel of jurors with the overall winner claiming a Kenyan safari as the top prize.

Co-founder of the awards, Paul Joynson-Hicks, says: “Our world is extraordinarily beautiful, yet the human race is doing its best to over-exploit and damage it – issues of wildlife conservation are gaining momentum globally, yet the messages and images tend to be negative, depressing and enervating.

“We want to educate and enlighten, and we want to do this by earning people’s attention by showing them things they don’t expect,” he says.

To see all the finalists click here.

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have announced their finalists for the 2023 competition.

Out of thousands of entries, this year’s shortlist is made up of 41 stand-alone photographs as well as three videos and three portfolio entries.

The shortlisted photographs include Air Guitar Roo by Jason Moore, showing a kangaroo seemingly playing the air guitar; Hang Loose by Christian Hargasser, starring a young cub with an unusual but cozy resting spot; and Dispute by Jacek Stankiewicz, in which two birds look like they are having an argument.

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards were founded in 2015 by photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, who wanted to create a competition that focused on the lighter side of wildlife photography while also promoting conservation.

Each year the competition supports a sustainable conservation organisation and this year it has chosen the Whitley Fund for Nature. The UK charity supports conservation leaders working in their home countries across the Global South. Now in its 30th year, it has helped raise £20 million for more than 200 conservationists in 80 countries.

The overall winner, category winners and highly commended winners will be announced on November 23. The public can also get involved by voting for their favourite picture in the Affinity Photo People’s Choice Award.

The winner of the top overall image will win a one-week safari in the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, as well as a handmade trophy from the Art Garage in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

More information is available at www.comedywildlifephoto.com

Updated: October 05, 2023, 10:52 AM

Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders has spoken about shooting the cover artwork for the band’s latest album, and his approach to photography on the whole.

In a recent interview with The New Yorker, Helders recalled that he captured the image featured on the front of ‘The Car’ with a long lens from the window of his former apartment in Los Angeles.

“This was in 2019, before we’d started any music for the album,” the musician said. “Alex [Turner] was, like, ‘Oh, wow’. He thought it told a story and that he might write something about it.”

The photograph in question features a lone white vintage car on the top floor of a multi-storey car park.

Helders also talked about being inspired by Terry O’Neill, the British photographer whose pictures capture subjects candidly or in unconventional settings. O’Neill, as TNY notes, also assisted in the birth of rock photography in the early ’60s.

The drummer told the outlet that he prefers domestic scenes over the iconic style of photographers like O’Neill.

Discussing his own photos of Arctic Monkeys, Helders explained: “It’s not clear they’re a band. They’re not doing anything that’s rock, but you can tell there’s something about them.”

Helders, who documents AM’s tour life on his Instagram page, added: “I try to make the mundane interesting.”

The sticksman uses a Leica M11 digital camera and also shoots in 35mm on a Leica Minilux, Leica M6 and Leica M4, per some of his recent posts.

The latest photo on his account is of Turner’s recognisable side profile in silhouette on a grey backdrop behind a sofa and a cardboard box.

“I have a folder on my phone called ‘The Backs’,” Helders explained. “If I’m walking around the street and someone looks interesting from the back, that’s fine with me. I don’t need to ask them to turn around.”

Speaking to NME upon ‘The Car’ being crowned our album of the year last December, Helders said: “It’s amazing to see this billboard [for the record] at the end of my street and think, ‘Wow, that’s a photo I took’.

“It wasn’t something I shot for that album cover necessarily as [the photo] came first before the music, and then went on to inspire some of the lyrics. Alex was really drawn to that image for some reason, so it only made sense that it became the cover for ‘The Car’.”

He continued: “It’s been really exciting, and it all still feels a bit surreal; like, I’ve got that picture up in my house, so it’s become something that I see every day.”

Back in 2016, NME collated 11 of Helders’ best shots up until that point including images of Josh Homme, Iggy Pop and Miles Kane.

• READ MORE: Why Arctic Monkeys’ 2023 stadium tour marks a new golden age for the band

Arctic Monkeys recently wrapped up the North American leg of their 2023 world tour, and are due to play two shows in Mexico City this week (October 6, 7).

Next weekend, they’ll begin a four-date arena stint in Ireland to bring their current era to a close.

In other news, last month saw Arctic Monkeys give ‘The Car’ song ‘Hello You’ its live debut during a gig in Vancouver.