After more than 22,000 images were submitted, the winners of the Bird Photographer of the Year 2021 contest were announced this week. We wrote about the grand-prize winner, a photo of a Greater Roadrunner stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border wall, and the youth winner here.
Below is a slideshow of the gold and silver winning images from the eight primary categories in the contest. Enjoy these incredible photographs!
FEATHER LIGHT
James Rogerson, United Kingdom
Backlit by the rising sun, this preening Northern Gannet paused momentarily as it removed a displaced feather. The sequence of images I took that morning focused on metering for the highlights of my subject. I achieved this using the spot-metering mode, linked to the central autofocus point, and with that point trained on the brightest area of the bird. The result is that the merest suggestion of the bird’s outline becomes the focus, and yet the species is still instantly recognisable. Although it is several hours’ drive to the location from my home, I rarely shoot there for more than the hour or so when suitable light conditions prevail.
Canon EOS-1D X with Canon 500mm f/4 lens and 1.4x teleconverter. Focal length 700mm, 1/1,000 second, f/11, ISO 1,600.
Winning images from the Bird Photographer of the Year 2020 competition
