Technology Explained, Practice
Daniela Bowker
Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! ...

When you hear the term 'high-res' thrown about with such abandon when it comes to images for web use, have you ever stopped to think just how big or how high quality and image meant for the web needs to be?

Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! Saving images for the web
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring

There's an assumption that high-contrast images are more dynamic, more compelling, more inviting. Have a go at some low-contrast photography. You might surprise yourself with the results.

Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring
Feature Articles, Theory
Daniela Bowker
Seeking balance in your photos

Balance doesn't mean symmetry; it means an internal consistency and tension within your photos. And it's a vital element of composition. 

Seeking balance in your photos
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Training your photographic luck

Great photos might be down to a little bit of luck, but most of that 'luck' you make yourself. Don't believe us? Read on...

Training your photographic luck
Feature Articles, Practice
Daniela Bowker
The ups and downs and ins and outs of ...

Photographing buildings doesn't have to mean wide-angle lenses and fretting about correcting for the keystone effect. Any lens, and angle. Don't believe us? Let us show you!

The ups and downs and ins and outs of photographing buildings

natural history museum

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Wildlife Photographer of the Year - cast your vote!

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Should you ever have thought 'What made the judges choose that photo?' or wondered just how tough it is to choose one stand-out image from a huge selection, now's your chance. To celebrate its fiftieth anniversary the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition has created the People's Choice award. Fifty images have been posted online and you get to choose your favourite. The image that has accumulated the most votes will be announced at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards evening and be exhibited as part of the 2014 collection on display at the Natural History Museum. That exhibition opens on 24 October before embarking on an international tour. The top five People's Choice images will be displayed online, with the rest of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014 collection.

Facebook update, Marsel van Oosten (Netherlands)
Facebook update, Marsel van Oosten (Netherlands)

It's a one-person-one-vote set-up; I've taken a look at the entries and am weighing up my vote. Some are just too obviously processed for me, but choosing a favourite isn't going to be easy. At the moment I'm torn between a photo with a fantastic story and another that I think is technically better but narratively weaker. Ah the quandary!

Caiman night, Luciano Candisani (Brazil)
Caiman night, Luciano Candisani (Brazil)

You can cast your vote over on the Wildlife Photographer of the Year website.

Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A Marvel of Ants, by Bence Máté

The winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition have just been announced, and boy are there some cracking photos on display. You’d hope so, as well, knowing that the winner was bitten all over by chiggers when getting his shot, one guy lost his camera to a polar bear, and another had to avoid being chomped on by a caiman!

Last year’s competition might’ve been bathed in scandal, as it emerged that the winner’s photograph of a wolf wasn’t quite as authentic as he’d claimed, but that didn’t deter the entrants (or the organisers) this year. If anything, it made them up their game and submit some eye-watering images.

A Marvel of Ants, by Bence Máté

The overall winner was Bence Máté, with his picture of leaf-cutter ants doing their thing in a rain forest in Costa Rica. The Young Photographer prize went to Fergus Gill, for a glorious shot of a fieldfare feeding on a frozen Rowan tree.

The Frozen Moment, by Fergus Gill

The exhibition of the winning and commended photographs opens at the Natural History Museum in London tomorrow. But if you can’t make it there, then spend a while wandering through the online gallery. It’s all worth a look, but I’d especially recommend the young people’s photos.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition runs from 22 October 2010 to 11 March 2011 at the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.