Hi everybody,

For those of you who follow me on FaceBook and/or Twitter, you may have seen that 2 of my entries made it into the finals of the 2012 Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, which this year received over 48,000 images from 98 countries. That means that two very intensive sessions of critical review by the judges have been survived, now remaining 1 final selection round.

When I received their message that they were pleased to tell me that at least one of my images has made it through, my heart rate went up and no way I could get back to my daily chores. The feeling this gives is amazing, pumping adrenaline in much the same way racing a fast car does, or going down a hill on your mountain bike, …

I have no idea how many shots make it to the finals (does somebody know?), yet by mid May the winning images will be known. And as has been said many times before, it is impossible to predict what the judges will go for. Going through the portfolio’s of past years definitely helps (I’m trying to get them all), and when selecting your images don’t go for your personal favorites only. On the contrary, get out of your comfort zone and enter some shots of which you’re not at all sure, for whatever reason, …

And oh yeah, to bring the point home that you don’t need the latest equipment to enter these competitions, my 2 shots that made it to the finals were taken with my old 350D and standard kit lenses!

For now, I leave you with 1 of my personal favorites that did not make it. Liking simplicity in a shot and fully realizing it has become close to impossible to surprise with a lion shot, I looked for an image that would portray a lion, blending into the environment, portraying it’s grandeur by ignoring vehicles passing by. This shot is the result of that search: blending in, turning the back, looking of into the distance, ignoring and frustrating the visitors and photographers who are craving for a nice portrait, … yet what they get is ‘The Royal Cold Shoulder’

Happy Easter and warm regards,

Guy