BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR HIGHLY COMMENDED!
Pinch me!! I must be dreaming!!!
I have just been notified that ‘Chinstrap Mountain’ has been awarded ‘HIGHLY COMMENDED’ in the most prestigious bird photography competition in the World….
BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR!!!!
I am so, so proud - beyond words! And my first ‘big’ award is of a penguin, which is incredible, because they are my absolute favourite!
Over 24,000 images were entered from around the World and only 6 from each category are awarded - Gold, Silver, Bronze and 3 Highly Commended. The top images are then exhibited throughout the year.
Which means.. not only did Chinstrap Mountain make the Bird Photographer of the Year BOOK Collection 11 - it is going on tour with the best of the best!!
The first exhibition is being held at Rugby Art Gallery - Rugby (UK) - 27th February 2027 - 5th June 2027 - Will you be going?
I hope this gives some scale as to where the Chinstrap Colony was based.
That little boat in the background ‘Rocinante’ - was the boat we had just left via zodiac to come ashore to stand on the Antarctic Peninsula, the White Continent!
I had no intention of walking up to the colony, I was going to wait at the bottom, just to say that I had stepped onto the peninsula… but after hearing how good it was at the top, I decided that as I had time on the peninsula and the weather was great - and judging by the happy faces coming back down, that the climb was worth it - I grabbed some walking poles and made my way up.
Of course it took me way longer than everyone else, people were passing me on the way up (and down!) but I am just so happy that I decided to pour every last drop of energy into that experience.
You can see in the image above that people are walking further up on the left. It kept going and going and as much as I would have loved to have been at the very top, my body wouldn’t allow it.
I was struggling after the climb up and started to panic at the thought of having to get back down… although I had a more pressing issue! I only had one camera body and lens (the 100-500mm) and one battery - which was dying rapidly in the camera due to how cold it was.
I had to keep taking the battery out and putting it under my armpit to warm up! If you haven’t tried this trick, you’re missing out on potential shots! (Unless you have spare batteries of course!)
I managed to get as much juice out of that battery as I could, to get as many photos to capture how incredible it was up there!
I loved watching the Chinstrap penguins go about their day. I can’t believe how far they trek to the ocean and then back again to their nest. Thinking about it absolutely exhausted me!
But they are super tough little penguins and that day, I felt a little bit of that.
The final image from that day ‘Chinstrap Mountain’ is an image that represents never giving up, despite the challenges, despite the storms, despite everything that is thrown at you - to me it is an image about resilience and inner strength.
I know that personal emotional connection to an image can sometimes hinder you when entering competitions but I am so thankful to the judges of BPOTY that they saw in this image, how I see and feel about it.
Canon R5II + RF 100-500mm. Settings: F5, 1/3200, ISO250 - Taken at 100mm.
I’ll be talking about my experience in Antarctica and more about this special day in a future film on Siân in the Wild YouTube Channel - subscribe to be notified when the next films are available!
