Outdoor Photographer of the Year 2018 – in pictures

Our selection of winning and shortlisted photographs from the 2018 competition

Main image: The Wildlife Insight winner, Salvador Colvée Nebot Photograph: Salvador Colvée Nebot/OPOTY

  • Young OPOTY winner, Riccardo Marchegiani (Italy)

    ‘The gelada monkeys are an endemic species to Ethiopia, living mainly in the Semien mountains in groups that at night find shelter in caves located on steep slopes. These monkeys are very photogenic, both for the colour of their thick manes, which are similar to those of lions, and for their red breasts, which look like hearts. Every morning they explore the slopes and then return to the caves at sunset’
    A gelada monkey in Ethiopia

  • Young OPOTY runner-up, Anya Burnell (England)

    ‘I spotted this common blue butterfly perching on some dry wheatgrass ready to roost as the sun was setting in Devon, England. I set up low in the grass and cleared the area surrounding the subject, so there were no distractions in front of the butterfly. Timing was crucial, as there was only a brief moment when the sun aligned perfectly behind the butterfly. I really enjoy being among nature in the great outdoors, and this has inspired me to take many photographs of butterflies’
    A butterfly in front of a setting sun

  • Young OPOTY commended, Josiah Launstein (Canada)

    ‘My family and I were loading our truck to photograph grizzly bears in the mountains when we saw a streak of yellow fly by in the Porcupine hills near Pincher Creek, Alberta, Canada. Right away, I knew it might be a male American goldfinch, and it didn’t take me long to find him in the grass on our acreage. I grabbed my gear and crawled through the grass to get this image of him surrounded by wildflowers. Here, he’s snacking on a seedhead known in Alberta as ‘prairie smoke’. I couldn’t believe he chose such a colour-coordinated place to perch’
    An American goldfinch in grass

  • View from Above winner, Tom Putt (Australia)

    ‘Flying low over the endless sand dunes of the Namib Desert, I noticed the cloud cover provided this interesting play of light on the landscape. When the sun heats up the dunes, it draws the black minerals to the surface. When I came to process the image, the stunning colours revealed themselves’
    The Namib Desert

  • View from Above runner-up, Roie Galitz (Israel)

    ‘Lake Kuril in southern Kamchatka, Russia, attracts millions of sockeye salmon on their last journey in life to spawn, and brown bears come to the lake for an all-you-can-eat salmon buffet for winter hibernation. I wanted to show the abundance of fish and the lone bear in one image, but from the ground it was going to be very difficult, so I flew a drone above the scene. This was exactly what I was looking for. It’s interesting to observe how the fish keep an exact radius from the bear, which is waiting for the right opportunity to charge’
    A bear surrounded by salmon in Russia

  • At the Water’s Edge winner, Roberto Marchegiani (Italy)

    ‘The wetlands of Louisiana, US, are a gigantic tangle of canals, swamps and forests that stretch around the great Mississippi estuary. In autumn, the great cypresses are covered with Spanish moss. I was there for a week and every day at dawn and at dusk, I went out sailing in a small boat on Lake Martin. Eventually the fog and the delicate light of dawn turned the bayou into a fairytale setting, and when this small, solitary tree appeared through the mist in the middle of the canal, it looked like the entrance to a mysterious world’
    A bayou in Louisiana, US

  • At the Water’s Edge runner-up, Alex Wrigley (UK)

    ‘It was the morning after one of last winter’s storms and I headed to Wastwater in the Lake District, England, hoping for some fresh snow blanketing the peaks at the head of the lake. Unfortunately the gale force winds had stripped the slopes of the majority of the snow, but the clearing storm left a dramatic sky just in time for sunrise, and the eye-wateringly strong winds were creating some coastal-esque waves on the shores of the lake. I waited for the perfect wave and then had to hold the tripod steady to combat the wind’
    Wastwater in the Lake District

  • At the Water’s Edge commended, Ian Snowdon (UK)

    ‘This row of houses is situated on the top of Huntcliff at Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire, England. I walk this area most days with my partner and, while sometimes we are blessed with beautiful sunrises and sunsets, I love the drama of a wet and windy day just as much. On this particular day, the low winter sun produced beautiful light and the darkening sky added to the mood. I wanted a shot from an elevated view. The sun illuminated the turbines beautifully, which were visually engulfed by the dark sky and rough sea’
    Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire

  • Overall winner and Light on the Land winner, Robert Birkby (UK)

    ‘Much of the higher ground in the South Pennines in West Yorkshire, England, is featureless, but these sheep had found shelter between a snowdrift and a dry stone wall. The gale force wind was driving snow straight at me. I used my 50mm lens with its small front element, cupping my left hand around it as a makeshift lens hood. Holding the camera still in the wind was difficult, so I used a fast shutter speed to keep things sharp and capture the falling snowflakes.’
    Sheep in the snow

  • Light on the Land runner-up, Daniel Laan (Netherlands)

    ‘Stjerntinden in Norway is a 930-metre peak rising from Lake Storvatnet. Along its shoreline, rocks and ice create tiny ice caves. I decided to put my camera inside this one because its curvy roof and virgin snow complemented the background so well. I put the camera in from the front facing out, but had no idea of the composition. I carefully turned the focus ring each shot with a view to making a final focus-stacked image. I lifted the camera for the final frame to reveal more of the mountain and fill the entirety of the cave mouth’
    A cave in Norway

  • Light on the Land commended, Sven Tegelmo (Sweden)

    ‘The summer of 2018 was dry and this caused forest fires in Sweden. Some of these occurred around my hometown, including this one in Lunsen nature reserve, Uppsala, in July. The fire department extinguished the fire during the night and the next morning there were 10 volunteers still working to secure the area and prevent the fire from starting to burn again. The ground was still very hot and there were some small fires visible from where I was. The fires cause a lot of serious damage, but at the same time, I love the beauty of them’
    An area after a forest fire in Sweden

  • Small World winner, Stefan Gerrits (Finland and Netherlands)

    ‘In Finland, the mountain apollo (Parnassius apollo) was one of the first species of insects to be protected as the population decreased. The presence of orpine flowers is critical for apollos and the lack of rain means there are fewer host plants for caterpillars to feed on. I photograph this species each summer, but it gets harder every year; this individual is warming up on a heath that had already turned into autumn colours in June. I overexposed the image to create a high-key effect, which helped to make its red eyes stand out’
    A mountain apollo in Finland

  • Small World runner-up, Jay Birmingham (UK)

    ‘I had gone to Wyming Brook in the Peak District, England, to try to capture some landscape shots. Struggling to find any unique angles, I cast my eyes over the smaller features around me and spotted, in the middle of the water, a small mossy island with a bonnet mushroom growing on it and a small waterfall just behind. I crouched as low down in the water as I could to position the mushroom in front of the waterfall, and then used a neutral density filter to capture the path of the water swirling through this beautiful micro landscape’
    A mushroom sticking up from a mossy island in the Peak District

  • Live the Adventure winner, Greg Lecoeur (France)

    ‘I usually travel to the different oceans to photograph marine creatures. But in French Polynesia, it was another type of creature that I immortalised. One of my dreams was to go and face the waves breaking on the reefs and see how surfers were able to tame the power of nature. It was in Rangiroa in the small pass of Avaturu that I dipped my fins with local surfers. That day, the waves were powerful and I hesitated to get into the water, but the lazy atmosphere motivated me and we shared exciting moments in the middle of thunderous waves’
    Live the Adventure winner, Greg Lecoeur (France)‘Passionate about the marine world, I usually travel to the different oceans of the planet to photograph marine creatures. But in French Polynesia, it was another type of creature that I immortalised. One of my dreams was to go and face the waves breaking on the reefs and see how surfers were able to tame the power of nature. It was in Rangiroa in the small pass of Avaturu that I dipped my fins with the local surfers. That day the waves were powerful and I hesitated to get into the water but the good lazy atmosphere on the site motivated me and we shared exciting moments in the middle of thunderous waves.’

  • Live the Adventure joint runner-up, Alex Palmer (UK)

    ‘I was taking a day off from the route that my partner and I were attempting on the west face of El Capitan, in Yosemite national park, California, USA. We headed down to the meadow opposite the peak to watch the climbers on the wall. The hardest thing I’ve found about photographing this rock face is to get any idea of how vast it really is. I spotted two climbers approaching the El Cap Tower feature and just started to snap photos. When I zoomed in to preview the images, I was really pleased with the scale and atmosphere they showed’
    Live the Adventure joint runner-up, Alex Palmer (UK)‘Two climbers approach El Cap Tower on the the Nose route on El Capitan in Yosemite national park, California, USA. I was taking a day off from the route that my partner and I were attempting on the west face of El Capitan. We headed down to the meadow opposite the peak to watch the climbers on the wall and get some images. The hardest thing I’ve found about photographing this rock face is to get any idea of how vast it really is. I spotted two climbers approaching the El Cap Tower feature and just started to snap photos. When I zoomed in to preview the images, I was really pleased with the scale and atmosphere they showed.’

  • Wildlife Insight winner, Salvador Colvée Nebot (Spain)

    ‘I was taking pictures near a waterhole that attracts several species of mammals and birds in Valencia, Spain. I was hidden 30 metres away and saw that a pair of common kestrels were using these dead agave flower plants as a perch from which to access the waterhole. The weather that day was cloudy and the light wasn’t good, so I decided to increase the exposure to create a high-key image’
    Wildlife Insight winner, Salvador Colvée Nebot (Spain)‘I was taking pictures near a waterhole that attracts several species of mammals and birds in Valencia, Spain. I was hidden 30 metres away and saw that a pair of common kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) were using these dead agave flower plants as a perch from which to access the waterhole. The weather that day was cloudy and the light wasn’t good, so I decided to increase the exposure to create a high-key image.’

  • Wildlife Insight runner-up, Jose Fragozo (Portugal)

    ‘Imani is a well-known female cheetah in the Maasai Mara national reserve in Kenya. She is recognisable by the ‘bracelet’ of spots around the left front leg. This image shows Imani and her cub during a rainstorm, crossing an area with a high density of lions and hyenas. To avoid predators, cheetahs move their cubs around to different places every few days. However, seeing a cheetah moving its cub in a severe rainstorm is a very rare phenomenon’
    Wildlife Insight runner-up, Jose Fragozo (Portugal)‘Imani is a well-known female cheetah in the Maasai Mara national reserve in Kenya. She is recognisable by the ‘bracelet’ of spots around the left front leg. This image shows Imani and her cub during a rainstorm, crossing an area with a high density of lions and hyenas. To avoid predators, cheetahs move their cubs around to different places every few days. However, seeing a cheetah moving its cub in a severe rainstorm is a very rare phenomenon.’

  • Spirit of Travel winner, Matt Parry (UK)

    ‘SiyaRam, 64, hangs from the beams above the wrestling pit in Varanasi, India, in the middle of doing crunches as part of a warm-up routine. I was in India on an assignment and had wanted to photograph a Kushti wrestling akhara. This form of the sport is steeped in history, culture and tradition, but is dying out due to government pressure for participants to move on to a modern mat-based wrestling format to compete at international level. SiyaRam has been training in this akhara for 13 years’
    Spirit of Travel winner, Matt Parry (UK)‘64-year-old SiyaRam hangs from the beams above the wrestling pit in Varanasi, India, in the middle of doing stomach crunches as part of an intense warm up routine that belied his age. I was in India on an assignment and had wanted to photograph a Kushti wrestling akhara. This form of the sport is steeped in history, culture and tradition but is gradually dying out due to government pressure for participants to move on to a modern mat-based wrestling format in order to compete at international level. SiyaRam has been training in this akhara for 13 years, and what started as a hobby is now a major part of his daily life.’

  • Spirit of Travel runner-up, Peter Racz (Hungary)

    ‘There are many ice caves on the shore of Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia, and I took this picture from inside one of them. I was lying on the ice, trying to frame the vehicle perfectly in the gap in the ice. The cave looks far bigger in the image due to the use of the wide-angle lens’
    Spirit of Travel runner-up, Peter Racz (Hungary)‘There are many ice caves on the shore of Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia, and I took this picture from inside one of them. I was lying on the ice, trying to frame the vehicle perfectly in the gap in the ice. The cave looks far bigger in the image due to the use of the wideangle lens.’

  • Spirit of Travel commended, Jeremy Flint (UK)

    ‘Few lands are as exotic and mysterious as Papua New Guinea, a region of dense, rugged valleys and magnificent tribes. Deep in the jungle highlands of Jiwaka province, I arranged to visit a local tribe in its village. I have always been fascinated with the tribes of Papua New Guinea and wanted to create an image that captured the country’s incredible culture and spirit of humanity. After witnessing a sing-sing (a combination of song and dance) among the tribe members, I captured this moment as two women touched noses to honour their friendship’
    Spirit of Travel commended, Jeremy Flint (UK)‘Few lands are as exotic and mysterious as Papua New Guinea, a region of dense, rugged valleys and magnificent tribes. Deep in the jungle highlands of Jiwaka province, I arranged to visit a local tribe in its village. I have always been fascinated with the tribes of Papua New Guinea and wanted to create an image that captured the country’s incredible culture and spirit of humanity. After witnessing a sing-sing (a combination of song and dance) among the tribe members, I captured this moment as two women touched noses to honour their friendship.’

  • Under Exposed winner, Greg Lecoeur (France)

    ‘Presumed to have been introduced to the Shetland Islands during Viking times, the otter has adapted to marine life and proliferated. More used to living in the rivers and lakes of Scotland, they are now found along the coastline and dive into the sea to feed on marine animals. The otter is a very fearful and shy animal, so to make this image it was necessary to spend time studying its behaviour and habits at sea. Once I was immersed, it was necessary to be patient. I was lucky to eventually have the opportunity to capture this image’
    Under Exposed winner, Greg Lecoeur (France)‘Presumed to have been introduced to the Shetland islands during Viking times, or maybe earlier, the otter has adapted to marine life and proliferated. More used to living in the rivers and lakes of Scotland, they are now found along the coastline and dive into the sea to feed on marine animals, especially crustaceans – some of the more experienced otters attack octopuses. The otter is a very fearful and shy animal, so to make this image it was necessary to spend time studying its behaviour and habits at sea. Once I was immersed, it was necessary to be patient. I was lucky to eventually have the opportunity to capture this image.’

  • Under Exposed runner-up, Pier Mane (Italy and South Africa)

    ‘Protea Banks in KwaZulu-Natal province is an underwater reef on the east coast of South Africa that is under consideration for protected area status. Amazing creatures such as this cephea (or crown) jellyfish live there. It was the biggest jellyfish I’ve ever seen, over one metre in diameter. Its purple head and yellow fuselage were amazing. With no background objects to provide perspective and wishing to exalt this crown jellyfish stunning colours, size and dancing elegance, I opted to crop the jellyfish to fill the frame’
    Under Exposed runner-up, Pier Mane (Italy and South Africa) ‘Protea Banks in the KwaZulu-Natal province, is an underwater reef on the east coast of South Africa that is under consideration for protected area status. Amazing creatures such as this cephea (or crown) jellyfish live there. It was the biggest jellyfish I’ve ever seen, over one metre in diameter. Its purple head and yellow fuselage were simply amazing. With no background objects present to provide perspective, and wishing to exalt this crown jellyfish with its stunning colours, majestic size and dancing elegance, I opted to purposefully crop the jellyfish to fill the frame.’

  • Under Exposed commended, Judith Conning

    Under Exposed commended, Judith Conning
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