I’m happy to announce that my image Chachalacascape (believe it or not, it took me a long time to come up with that title) has received a highly commended award in this year’s BBC/Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. This competition receives over 40,000 image entries from all over the world, and one is competing against large agency shooters and even National Geographic pros with plenty of time, budget, and equipment resources. It’s far and away the most prestigious nature photography competition in the world, so to have one of my images among the ~75 images honored in the adult category is a thrill to be sure.
I’m doubly pleased with the honor because I’m proud to have taken an everyday subject and made an interesting image out of it. Though I’m a moderator on the avian forum at naturescapes.net, I don’t consider myself to be a bird photographer and indeed, I think that this gray-headed chachalaca image is one that most bird photographers wouldn’t even have thought of taking. The sky’s all white, the bird is too small in the frame, the bird is a very common and nondescript species, and there’s no color to this scene. These are exactly the things that got me excited!
Here’s a behind the scenes look at how I approached this image:
First, I literally had seconds to see, meter, compose, and capture this image. I was photographing hummingbirds on a lodge balcony in Costa Rica when I saw this lone chachalaca in a Cecropia tree. I’ve always admired the architecture of Cecropias. With the lone bird as a compositional element and a point of added interest, I knew I had something. The bird was in the tree for only about 20 seconds from the time I spotted him to the time it flew off to join the rest of the flock.
Second, luckily I had my 300 mm lens at hand and mounted on my full-frame 5D. On another body, the 300 mm prime would have been too much reach to compose the picture how I wanted. These days I always have the new Canon 70-300 mm L IS zoom lens mounted on one body just for these kinds of occasions.
Third, it was a typical overcast day, so the gray sky and muted colors gave the scene a vaguely oriental look. This was basically a monochromatic image to begin with so I knew I’d be taking it into black and white.
Fourth, I composed to include as many of the interesting Cecropia branches and fruit as possible to provide a flowing frame for the bird. I knew I wanted the bird off-center. I set up my camera quickly and swung things around while looking through the viewfinder until I got what I wanted. The Wimberley Sidekick is great for this kind of work as it makes composing smooth and efficient with a medium-sized pro telephoto lens.
Fifth, I had to meter the scene. I knew I wanted a high-key look to the image, which meant letting the gray sky go completely white. In addition, overexposing the sky in this manner would open up details in the leaves, which was very important for texture. My camera was set in aperture priority so I immediately dialed in +2 stops of exposure compensation. Had I not overexposed in this manner, the camera would have made the sky a middle gray, in the process making everything else a silhouette, which definitely was not what I wanted here.
Sixth, what about my other camera settings? I quickly chose an aperture of f5.6, knowing that this was a sweet spot in terms of the sharpness of my 300 mm f2.8 lens and also knowing that it would give me plenty of depth of field. All of the subject matter was pretty much on the same plane, and that plane was a good distance away from the camera. I chose ISO 100 to obtain the cleanest file possible as I had high hopes for this one as a nice print. This gave me a shutter speed of 1/80, which I deemed acceptable given the fact that I was working on a tripod. Even though I didn’t have time to get out a cable release and use mirror lockup, engaging image stabilization with pro telephoto lenses helps to give added sharpness when working from a tripod and using marginal shutter speeds, as I was here.
Seventh, image in hand I had to go about the black and white conversion. I chose to use Nik Silver Efex Pro which enabled me to add a bit of contrast to the scene. Playing around a bit with the structure slider helped to add to the texture already present in the leaves. These adjustments really made the image pop. That said, the final image really isn’t that different from the RAW file as it came out of my camera (see below).
You can see the image here on the WPOTY website. Be sure to check all of the other images too. This competition always looks for images that go beyond the norm so there’s some fantastic work there!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and that it gives you some ideas for how to spot fresh, creative image possibilities the next time you’re out in the field. The image discussed here is available as an affordable poster print and a luxury aluminum print. Or get even more custom sizes plus framing options either through the official Wildlife Photographer of the Year store at the British Natural History Museum or through ArtFlakes, Europe’s fastest-growing online print house.
A book of all of the 2011 WPOTY winning images is available here, and the image is featured on some cool products in the British Natural History Museum gift shop, such as this graphic tote bag, this cool notebook, and this set of file folders.
Cheers,
Greg
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It dpoesn´t surprises me at all, your work is over the top and your photographs are simply wonderfull. One can see the love and respect you have for wildlife
Big congratulations! 
Thanks so much, Ramon. Coming from you, it couldn’t be a bigger compliment!
Cheers,
Greg
I follow your work for a few month now and want to congratulate, specially for this “highly commended” picture.
Congratulations Greg. I knew you were great and am happy to know there are more important photographers that agree with me.
John
Big congratulations Greg! A very artistic image.
Arthur
Thanks, Eric, John, and Arthur. I really appreciate it!
Cheers,
Greg
Hola Greg,
I remember when we met five years ago I thought many of your images were award winners! You know this is one of my favourites. A big congrats to you!! It really works in B&W…the textures and tones are magnificent on this wonderful composition.
Fab
Enhorabuena, Greg
Tienes unas imágenes magníficas y esa merece la mención sin duda.
Saludos
Thanks, Fab!
Cheers,
Greg
Gracias, Carlos. Y saludos desde Costa Rica!
Greg
Hi Greg!!!
So amazing and so happy for you! You are so incredibly talented and extremely hard working! Well deserved, bro!
Congratulations Greg. As challenging as it is to capture an image like this in such a short window of opportunity, it must be just as challenging to select the images to enter from among your portfolio of inspiring images. You see (and capture) images in scenes many of us would just pass by.
Dennis
Congratulations Greg! Beautiful image. Very well-deserved honor.
Thanks, Sis!
Thanks so much, Dennis, for your kind words. As you well know, you never quite know what the judges are going to like so I’m glad I was lucky to choose to submit this one.
Jon, thanks for the congrats! Glad you liked the image.
Cheers,
Greg
Greg, the book has just come out here in the UK and your picture looks amazing!! You must be so thrilled and delighted – many many congratulations – you really deserve your success!
By the way, I’ve got my eye on a place for your artistic workshop next December.
Warm regards, Nicki
Hi, Nicki. That’s great, I’m so glad the picture looks good in the book. Did you go to see the exhibit too? I couldn’t make it to the ceremony but I’m sure the exhibit must be awesome with all of the great photos honored this year.
It would be wonderful to have the chance to work with you again next year in Costa Rica. Just let me know if you have any questions.
BTW, did you notice how many high-key images were honored in WPOTY? I wonder if that’s the start of a trend or just how things worked out this year. Just in case, I’ve glued my exposure compensation dial to +2.
All the best,
Greg
Greg, I haven’t seen the exhibit yet, but it will be travelling to my area early next year I think.
Rest assured, my exposure compensation is permanently glued to +2 – at least!!!!
I’ll be in touch!
What a surpraise Greg!
And many congratulations! Well deserved.
Hi Greg, I’m very happy with you! Looks really great your “Chachalacascape”! It’s very different and interesting. Shows your perfect eye to capture those scenes and you can be very proud of this image and the award! Congratulations, Greg, I’m your fan!
Greg,
Congratulations, Son. The photograph is spectacular! We are so proud of your efforts, your achievements, and your use of your gifts. “Cheers” to you and your supportive family. Love you all!
Greg -
Congrats on your win in this year’s BBC/Veolia Competition !
Wonderful composition.
This year I had 5 that made it to the semi-finals but no cigar …
maybe next year.
Hope all is well with you & your family & again, congrats – well deserved.
Hi, Mom and Dad. Thanks so much for your support all of these years as I’ve changed careers!
Love you both,
Greg
Nicki, I’ll be you have yours glued to like plus 4!
Cheers,
Greg
Thanks, Juan Carlos and John. John, yeah I had a number in semi-finals and two others that made it to the final round. One of those I really had high hopes for. I guess you just never knew exactly what the judges are going to be looking for. That’s exactly why we’ll go back and try again next year. Did you do Nature’s Best this year, John? I hope all’s very well with you.
All the best,
Greg
Greg, Congratualations on receiving this well-deserved honor. I am learning a lot this year on how fickle judges can be, but it is fun when they like the same things you do. I love this unusual image, it is really creative which is probably why you were honored. I’m looking forward to our workshop in February.
I didn’t do Nature’s Best again this year but I may try next time around …
I captured many baby mountain gorilla images this last October that I think might be worthy of a try.
Thanks, Cheryl. Looking forward to seeing you again in a few months!
Cheers,
Greg
Sounds good, John. That must have been an awesome experience photographing baby mountain gorillas.
Cheers,
Greg
Great insight into the shot, Greg. Looks great and again congratulations!
Thanks, Morkel, for your kind words and for stopping by. It’s a great feeling to have this on the resume, isn’t it?!
Cheers,
Greg
Congratulations to you Greg on a well-deserved honor! Your images are an inspiration to me! See you in a couple of months.
Thanks, Doug! I say the same thing to you. We have different styles and interests in terms of subject matter but I always enjoy shooting with you because I never fail to pick up some new tips and ideas. Looking forward to January and February!
Cheers,
Greg
Nice job,, I really love this shot. I’m a Nik Silver Effects nut, it has completely thrown me into b&w photography. This is a perfect example of why.
note: I looked at your sale photo on artflakes.com The image on that site is very different from the one on this blog (unsharp and lacking detail). So much so that I think it will drastically effect your sales. You might want to look into that.
Thanks, Gene. I’m glad you liked the image. I agree about the version on ArtFlakes but that’s a byproduct of the method they use to render the thumbs and images on the website so, unfortunately, I don’t have any control over it.
Cheers,
Greg
Congrats Greg! I also received a highly commended award in the same category for my image, “Dream Trees”.
Kevin
Thanks for stopping by, Kevin. I enjoyed your image as well so a big congrats to you too! Did you go to London?
Cheers,
Greg
Unfortunately, I didn’t make it over to London, just couldn’t afford to take the time off from work. Hopefully, another time!
Kevin
Hi Greg! Congratulations, well-deserved, I love this shot. Your images are always wonderful!
I hope to reach another workshop next year in october to learn more.
Take care
Max
Thanks, Max! That would be great. It would be my pleasure to have the opportunity to work with you again. And Jose wants to buy your lens
All the best,
Greg
Congratulations Greg
I think I recognize this one – if I’m right, I was standing next to you on the lodge balcony when you pointed it out during our workshop. My photo did not turn out half as well – it turned into a silhouette – yours is so much more interesting with the extra detail!! I hope to travel with you again soon – I learned so much and have so much more to learn.
Say hello to Jose.
Hi, Pat. Thanks so much for stopping by. That very well may be!
I will tell Jose hi. Just let me know if you ever want to come back down to Costa Rica — always new things to shoot here
All the best,
Greg
Today I saw your photo in the Wildlife Photographer Exhibition at my local museum (Bristol, UK). To me, it stood out a mile. I absolutely love it, and am buying a print of it as I type! Congratulations.
Hi, Sophie. Thanks so much for your note and for your kind words on the image (and thanks for buying a print!). I really appreciate your letting me know that the photo looked in the exhibit.
Best regards,
Greg
Hi Greg. My print has arrived- I am delighted with it. Everyone who has seen it has also commented what a fantastic photo it is. Regards, Sophie
Awesome, Sophie. I really appreciate you letting me know that it looks good.
All the best,
Greg
Amazing shot, I can’t take my eyes of it! Congratulations on your huge success and greetings from Poland!
Hi, Michal. Thanks so much for your nice note. I’m so glad that you’ve enjoyed the picture!
Cheers,
Greg
Your excellent work warms the heart of this old-time retired graphic designer. The best compliment we used to give to a young designer or photographer was
“you have a good eye”. You do. I’m glad to say I knew you when you started and am not at all suprised with your success. You had a “good eye” then and best of all your work continues to mature. Keep up the good work Greg.
Gary Harmon
Hi, Gary! Thanks so much for the kind words. How are you doing? I’m going to be in St. Louis on March 20 to give a talk to the St. Louis Camera Club. Perhaps we can find time to catch up.
All the best,
Greg