Although it is not just rare and exotic species that are likely to have caught the judges eye, Mark Carwardine, zoologist, award-winning writer and photographer and chairman of the competition judging panel, said ‘It’s not what you photograph – it’s the way you do it. Despite many people’s fears, pictures of common and familiar species close to home stand just as much chance of winning as pictures of more exotic, rare and unfamiliar ones.
Successful photographers work hard at their photography. They get down low, climb high, move backwards, crawl forwards, creep from side to side, think laterally, get up early and stay out late. They are passionate people, determined to get something different.’