The funniest and most popular photography competition in the world – The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards has reached its conclusion and at an Awards Night at the Oxo Gallery in London, Milko Marchetti was announced as the OVERALL WINNER of this year’s competition for his excellent capture of a red squirrel stuck in a tree entitled ‘Stuck Squirrel.’
Over 9000 images were entered, the highest number ever for the Awards in its glorious ten-year history, from professional and amateur photographers vying for the top accolade of being the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Around 45 of the very best entries were then selected for the judging panel to choose their favourites. As always, it was fiercely competitive, with only a few points between the top 5 entries, but Milko’s image was popular across the board with the judges, with his extraordinary capture of a red squirrel entering his hide in a tree and his legs at right angles to the trunk.
The scene was over in a flash, as Milko recalls: “I have taken many, many photographs of squirrels, in many situations over the years in Italy, but this one struck me as really funny and such a strange position, because it is that exact moment when the squirrel is detaching its back legs from the trunk to enter its hide. Whenever I show this image at the nature seminars at my local photography club, the audience always explode with raucous laughter, so I had to enter it!”
The competition was founded in 2015 by Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, both professional photographers and passionate conservationists to create a refreshing, fun and free to enter photography competition unlike any other, showcasing seriously funny images of the earth’s most amazing wildlife and raising awareness about conservation.
As a nature lover himself, Milko said: “Nature photography has been my passion, ever since I was a boy, and I’ve always put all my free time and energy into it. I think that nature offers so much beauty and variety, and with a camera, the photographer has this ability, this superpower to freeze a moment and make it last forever in the form of a photograph.”
Safari
As the over-all competition winner, Milko bags a once in a lifetime safari in the Masai Mara, Kenya, with Alex Walker’s Serian plus a unique handmade trophy from the Wonder Workshop in Tanzania and a fantastic photography bag from the fabulous Think TANK.
Stefan Maier, Senior General Manager of Marketing at Nikon Europe, says: “We are thrilled to celebrate Milko Marchetti’s outstanding achievement in the Nikon Comedy Photography Awards 2024. His image, ‘Stuck Squirrel,’ brilliantly captures the playful and unpredictable moments that make nature so enchanting. This year’s competition received a record number of entries, each one a testament to the power of photography in evoking emotion. We look forward to continuing to inspire the next generation of wildlife photographers through these wonderful awards.”
Commenting on the moment when he found out he had won the big Award, Milko said “When I received the email that I had a photo in the Finalists, I couldn’t believe it. But when I found out I had won, Tom, who called me and gave me the brilliant news, can confirm that I shouted Wow, Wow, Wow quite a few times whilst also jumping for joy. Looking at the beautiful finalist’s photos, I would never have thought that I would be the chosen one. What can I say – I am so, so happy.”
There were 9 other Category Winners, and a special mention must be given to the younger generation of emerging wildlife photographers including winner of the Nikon Young Photographer Award (25yrs and under) Kingston Tam from Australia with a close up of a frog smiling at the camera, he receives a Z8 + 24-120mm kit from Nikon and Sarthak Ranganadhan, who receives a Z50II +16-50mm VR kit from Nikon for winning the Nikon Junior Category (16yrs and under) with his smooching owlets. Flynn Thaitanunde-Lobb, from Southampton, aged just 10 years old is the youngest ever category winner, for his collection of 4 images capturing a Rock Star Squirrel to clinch the Portfolio Category. An amazing achievement.
Winners
Other Category Winners included Jose Miguel Gallego Molina who won the Insect Award for his charming Mantis Flamenca; Eberhard Ehmke topped the Reptile Category with his photo of a frog in a bubble; Damyan Petkov’s entry of a tern crash landing in front of his mate is priceless and took the Bird Category; Przemyslaw Jakubczyk won the Fish and other Aquatic Animals Category with his image of a Bald Eagle being chased across the sky by a Bream; Tapani Linnanmäki was the clear winner of the Affinity Photo 2 People’s Choice Award with his White-tailed eagle entitled ‘Shake Rattle, Ruffle and Roll’ and the Video Award went to Kevin Lohman for his brilliant clip of a fox doing the zoomies on a cold winter morning.
In addition to the Category Winners, there were 10 entries that were recognised as Highly Commended Winners: Leslie McLeod, Andy Rouse, Randy Herman, Sanjay Patil, Takashi Kubo, Artur Stankiewicz, Ralph Robinson, Arvind Mohandas, Marti Phillips and Jan Piecha.
The Overall Winner, Category and Highly Commended Winners were announced on Tuesday 10th December at an Awards Night in London, followed by a wonderful exhibition from 11 -15 December at the Gallery@Oxo, showcasing all the 2024 Award Finalists, thanks to the support of our awesome competition partners at Nikon. This is an amazing chance to see all the Finalists up close – for free – and experience the wonders of wildlife by some unbelievably talented photographers. For information on our other Comedy Wildlife exhibitions, or anything else about the competition and winners, please visit www.comedywildlifephoto.com.
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