Redazione Art-Vibes | On 03, Apr 2020

Florian Ledoux si aggiudica il Nature TTL Photographer of the Year 2020, il contest internazionale di fotografia che mette la bellezza della natura al centro dell’obiettivo.

di Redazione Art Vibes

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Picture: Florian Ledoux – Above the Crabeater Seals, Antarctica, Equipment used: Phantom 4 Pro+. Overall Winner (& Wildlife category winner), Nature TTL. © Nature TTL / Florian Ledoux. (Aerial view of crabeater seals resting in a group on the ice after feed- ing at night. The aerial view allow us to better understand how the wildlife use the ice to rest and give birth.)

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Il fotografo francese Florian Ledoux si è aggiudicato il titolo di Nature TTL Photographer of the Year 2020 con lo scatto intitolato “Above the Crabeater Seals“, ripresa con un drone nel cielo dell’Antartide. La competizione internazionale ha visto la partecipazione di oltre 7.000 partecipanti tra fotografi naturalisti, paesaggisti e macrofotografi, in totale professionisti e non da circa 117 paesi diversi.

“Sono così entusiasta di essere stato scelto come vincitore assoluto, non me lo sarei mai aspettato“, ha commento Ledoux. “Per me è molto importante mostrare lo stato delle regioni artiche e antartiche, la vittoria del contest offrirà un’esposizione importante alla tematica. “È importante che chiunque sia ispirato da questa pratica di fotografia dai droni capisca l’importanza della fauna selvatica e mostri un approccio etico al mezzo. Assicurati che il tuo drone non disturbi gli animali e organizza le tue riprese in conformità con le normative locali.“

L’organizzatore del concorso, nonché Wildlife cameraman, Will Nicholls, ha dichiarato: “L’immagine di Florian offre un angolo unico che non si vede spesso nella fotografia naturalistica. I giudici avevano difronte una scelta difficile da compiere, ma il dettaglio e il posizionamento delle foche circondate dal ghiaccio rotto hanno fatto la differenza”.

Il fotografo Marek Biegalski ha vinto invece la categoria Landscape, anche in questo caso con una foto scattata da un drone in Toscana (Italia), mostrando un gregge di pecore al riparo dal caldo sotto un albero.

La categoria Macro è stata vinta dal fotografo cinese Minghui Yuan con un’immagine semplicistica e bicolore di una libellula che riposa su alcune erbe.

La categoria Young è stata vinta dal quindicenne Saptarshi Guyen dall’India con la sua immagine “Phoenix”, un’immagine che mostra un drongo a caccia di insetti, in fuga dai fuochi delle praterie, accesi dagli agricoltori per fertilizzare la terra.

Migliaia di persone hanno votato infine per il vincitore del People’s Choice Award, aiutando Robert Ferguson ad assicurarsi il premio come vincitore di questa categoria. La sua immagine di un pellicano che lotta per ingoiare un pesce mostra dettagli e comportamenti animali unici.

 

Marek Biegalski – Shadow game, Italy, Equipment used: DJI Mavic Pro 2. Winner – Landscape category, Nature TTL. © Nature TTL / Marek Biegalski. (Aerial image taken in Tuscany in autumn light. Flock of sheep was hiding in the shade from the sun under the shadow of a tree).

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Minghui Yuan – Chinese Painting, China, Equipment used: NIKON D7000, Tamron 180mm/3.5 macro lens. Winner – Macro category, Nature TTL. © Nature TTL / Minghui Yuan. (I was wearing a piece of waterproof overalls in the stream of Dabie Moun- tain, waiting to observe this Matrona basilaris (damselfly). Matrona basilaris is the king of the stream here. There is a male Matrona basilaris every 3 me- ters. They were waiting for the female to fly over its territory; the male chased away a male opponent and then stopped at the tip of the grass.
Against the background of the sky, I discovered the connection between the lines of the grass and the subject. Nature itself is a simple painting.)

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Robert Ferguson – I’m not going easy, Singapore, Equipment used: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II, 200-400mm f/4. Winner – People’s Choice Award, Nature TTL. © Nature TTL / Robert Ferguson. (This is the Great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), struggling with a non-native fish. These wonderful birds are free to roam, but have established a large colony on one of the artificial islands in the old Jurong park in Singapore.
I had set up my camera to take some portraits and watch their behaviour, and noticed one partic- ular bird that had caught one of the big fish from the pond. I watched, intrigued, as the bird swam in circles, dipping his bill, taking water, then raising his beak to attempt to swallow his large prey. But every time the fish extended its sharp spines on its fins – you can see it hooked on the beak here – and lodged itself firmly.
This went on for over 20 minutes, with no sign of either party tiring. I was fascinated to see the intricate veins in the birds throat pouch, as the overcast day backlit the thin skin, and I had to move and crouch low to the ground to get the shot.)

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Nature TTL / Paul Holman” title=”Paul Holman – Startled Owl, UK. Equipment used: Canon 7d II, Canon EF100-400 Mark II. Runner-up – Wildlife category. Nature TTL. © Nature TTL / Paul Holman”>

Paul Holman – Startled Owl, UK. Equipment used: Canon 7d II, Canon EF100-400 Mark II. Runner-up – Wildlife category. Nature TTL. © Nature TTL / Paul Holman. (The baby little owl made an appearance within the window during a burst of early morning sun. A couple of jackdaws spooked by his presence started dive bombing him. After a few passes I noticed the
jackdaw’s reflection in the adjacent windowpane and decided to try and capture this behaviour. The startled look on the little owl’s face adds a little humour to the image.)

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Dipanjan Pal – Coexistence, Iceland. Equipment used:DJI Mavic Pro. Highly Commended – Landscape category. Nature TTL. © Nature TTL / Dipanjan Pal. (This is a scene very close to one of the popular mountains of Iceland. While flying my drone to the mountain with my drone’s camera pointed downward, I suddenly noticed this beautiful landscape with the blue river perfectly pop- ping against the black sand. The sun peeking through the clouds added more drama to the scene.)

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Robert Page – Mating red-eyed damselflies, UK. Equipment used: Nikon D7200 and 500 f5.6 pf lens. Runner-up – Macro category Nature TTL. © Nature TTL / Robert Page. (I have observed and photographed damselflies on the ponds in my local park in London for years. Last summer, during the July heat- wave on an especially hot and muggy but overcast day, I went with the intention of trying to capture some shots using exposure com- pensation as I’d recently begun experimenting more with it.
The damselflies were out in great numbers all over the surface of the
water and due to the lack of direct sunlight I was able to shoot with a bit of positive compensation to leave the water white or near white. It then just became a question of looking for the most pho- togenic pairing and this group stood out due to the symmetry. This breeding behaviour lasted ex- actly 1 day, as the next day I went back and the activity had already subsided for another year)

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Saptarshi Gayen – Pheonix, India. Equipment used: Nikon D7100 and Nikon 200-500mm. Winner – Under 16 category, Nature TTL. © Nature TTL / Saptarshi Gayen. (For the last 4-5 years I have seen that, at the end of every winter, farmers of this huge grassland generally burn the grass and reeds to clean the land for upcoming crops.
When the fire spreads across the land, small insects start coming out. Then the brave Black Drongo starts capitalising on such a moment by eating them and flying above the live fire. The birds usually sit on a branch fearlessly and watch the movements of the insects as the fire spreads into a new area, then it flies close to the fire for the catch. This is a full frame image, and the calmness of the Drongo reminds me of the Roman Emperor Nero.
).

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– via: Art Vibes submission – photo credits & courtesy of: Nature TTL

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– website: naturettl.com

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