Wild Art Photographer of the Year Rob Read OM magazine

COMPETITION
WILDART PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR AWARD
OM | ISSUE 001 | JAN-MAR 2021
PHOTO
COMP!
TOP TIPS FOR ENTRANTS
Get inspired
The internet and social media
have changed the landscape for
photographers in recent years,
part of the digital revolution that
is every bit as transformative as
the advancements in equipment.
Look for work that you admire
on platforms like Instagram,
Facebook, and Twitter.
Love to learn
Attend a few workshops run by
photographers whose work you
like – there are many great pros
out there that make their living
primarily from running tutorial
groups and workshops, and it can
be so valuable to get handson experience and advice. Get
to understand the techniques
involved and how images you
aspire to take were taken and
then apply that knowledge to your
own photography.
Find your style
It’s important to find your own
voice and develop your own
photographic style. Copying what
others are doing may well result
in you taking nice images, but it
won’t make your work stand out.
Don’t get too fixated on having to
own the newest and latest gear.
Contrary to popular belief, this
won’t necessarily help you take
better images.
Be a wildlife winner
© Rob Read
New for 2021, the WildArt Photographer of the Year is a series of competitions held
throughout the year providing a welcome creative outlet for wildlife lovers the
world over. We caught up with founder Rob Read to find out more...
How it began
I’ve had a keen interest in both the
natural world and photography from a
very early age, and around 15 years
ago I had the opportunity to indulge
in these interests professionally. In
2015 I was involved with co-founding
and running Bird Photographer of
the Year, a competition which quickly
became respected across the globe
as one of the most prestigious annual
wildlife photography competitions.
When I decided to move on from
BPOTY, it seemed logical to use
all the experience I’d gained to
launch something new. I wanted to
create a competition designed by
photographers, for photographers,
that placed the emphasis mainly
on the art of the image, rather than
the species the image depicted. A
spider taken in your own backyard
can be every bit as creative as a
large African mammal. It was also
important that the judging panel
was comprised entirely of respected
wildlife photographers. I think it’s
important to those entering to
know that their images are being
scrutinised by experienced eyes.
how good a photographer you are.
WildArt POTY competition seeks to
educate and inspire through the
fabulous images it aims to attract,
and will also actively raise money
for conservation causes around the
globe through direct contributions
from entry fees. Each of the WildArt
judges has chosen a conservation
cause to support with their category
and WildArt POTY will donate 20p for
every image entered in that category
for the cause supported.
The power of pictures
Photography is a powerful
medium that plays a crucial role in
conservation. You can’t photograph
what no longer exists, no matter
The winning shot
The last 15 years or so has witnessed
an increasing blurring of the lines
between professional and amateur
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photographers, to the point that I’m
not sure those pigeonholes exist
any more. There are thousands of
‘amateur’ photographers out there
who are producing some stunning
work; I see it on Instagram every
day. The most important piece of
equipment is the brain, that’s the thing
with the vision to create the image
the equipment is then employed to
capture. The camera doesn’t see an
image, the photographer does, and
those that are prepared to break
with convention, experiment and push
boundaries are the ones that will do
well. Above all else, judges look for
work that has originality, an approach
they have never seen before. Couple
that with technical excellence and you
might be on to a winner.
How to enter
I wanted to create a competition that
engaged with photographers over
the course of a year and avoided
the peaks and troughs of other
competitions. The format is centred
around 10 categories, run individually
over the course of 10 months – one
per month. The titles are the design of
each of the judges, who take charge
of their own category. We have chosen
single words that are deliberately
broad and open to a degree of
entrant interpretation. The category
titles coming up next, in monthly order
are: Space, Eyes, Connection, Light,
Abstracts, Monochrome, Backyard,
Motion and Colour.
There are options to enter one, five
or 10 images every month and entrants
© Victoria Hillman
can choose as many or as few of the
categories as they want to enter over
the course of the competition. At the
end of the 10 months, the category
winners from each month will go
into a grand final and the overall
WildArt POTY winner will be chosen
by a group discussion between the
judges. Therefore, in order to win the
competition, you first have to win a
monthly category.
I wanted to create a
competition designed
by photographers, for
photographers, that
placed the emphasis
mainly on the art of
the image, rather
than the species the
image depicted
The judges
The panel is made up of some
amazing photographers representing
a wide range of photographic styles
and specialisms from all around the
world, including Olympus-users Petr
Bambousek, Georgina Steytler, Andy
Rouse, Rebecca Nason, Jari and Kaisa
Peltomaki and David Tipling, along
with Gail Bisson, Josh Galicki, Victoria
Hillman and William Steel.
Study your subject
Wildlife photography is firstly
about fieldcraft. There is no
substitute for knowing your
subject and its habits. If you are
passionate about wildlife, then
it is likely you will have basic
knowledge already. Someone
who focuses their attention on
fieldcraft will take better images
with a simple point-and-shoot
than someone with the latest tech
that knows very little about what
they are photographing, and
that connection will show in the
resulting images.
For detailed information
on the categories and
how to enter:
wildartpoty.com
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