David Hall (United States of America) Soft-coral community
'Soft corals are one of my favourite subjects and this particular colony in Indonesia was unusually colourful. A shy goby was living with the colony, and I decided to make it the focus of the composition.' Soft corals don't have a rigid skeleton, so they don't build reefs. Instead they have tiny internal skeletal needles that support them. These brightly coloured needles are surrounded by translucent tissue. Many animals like goby fish and comb jellies use soft coral colonies for shelter. These animals are either transparent or in colours similar to the coral, to help camouflage them.
Canon EOS 5D with 100mm macro lens; 1/200 sec at f20; ISO 250; Subal housing; two Ikelite DS51 strobes. This photograph is available to buy as a print.
成人奖-动物肖像 这是竞赛中最流行的一组，新奖项要求捕捉到动物特性或者他们的关注动物的精神。
Animal PortraitsThis category, one of the most popular in the competition, invites portraits that capture the character or spirit of the subject they focus on.
冠军：黑冠短尾猿
Stefano Unterthiner在印度尼西亚的Sulawesi岛上跟一群猴子呆了六个星期，最后几乎混成了猴子中的一员，它们认识他的气味，认识他的衣服。某天，照片上这只喜欢到处乱逛的黑冠短尾猿跑到海滩上，美丽的背景也就成就了摄影师的动物肖像组冠军。其实，这种稀有的黑冠短尾猿大部分时候都在森林里觅食，很少去海滩上，因为它们也是当地人的食物。 Stefano Unterthiner (Italy) Troublemaker
'I nicknamed this young adult Troublemaker. He was interested in me, so getting a close-up wasn't difficult. But he would leap at me and kick off my back like a trampoline. It was part play, part confrontation, part attention-seeking, part curiosity. I think Troublemaker's expression captures the spirit of these wonderful monkeys.' Black-crested macaques live on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. They usually forage in the forests, but sometimes their search for food takes them to the edge of the trees to the coast. They wander along the beach scouring the rocks for fallen fruits and nuts or, in the case of the young ones, paddling in the waves.
Nikon D2X + Nikon 12-24mm lens; 1/250 sec at f10; ISO 125; graduated neutral-density filter; flash. This photograph is available to buy as a print.
Jordi Chias (Spain) Curious calf
'Sailing one calm day, between the Canary Islands and Madeira, the mother at first kept between me and the infant, but after a while lost interest. The calf came straight up to me and stayed motionless just a metre away. I took a few shots, but then I lowered my camera and simply looked the calf in the eye - a moment I will never forget.' Pilot whale families stick together. Unlike most whales, pilot whale calves stay with their mother's pod for life. The attentive mothers spend so long caring for each calf they only breed every seven or eight years.
Nikon D70s + Nikon 12-24mm lens at 18mm; 1/80 sec at f5.6; ISO 200; Hugyfot housing; no strobes.
Bill Harbin (United States) Swallowtail salt-sipping
'Looking through binoculars beside a stream in Mexico, I was struck by the power of the head-on image - large black eyes, contrasting yellow face and long proboscis. By crawling on my stomach through the mud and sand to within 30 centimetres of the butterfly, I managed to capture the dramatic perspective I wanted.' The giant swallowtail butterfly uses its proboscis, a straw-like feeding tube, to suck up nectar from various plants. But it can't get all the nutrients it needs to survive from nectar alone. Because of this, it feeds from puddles of mud or wet sand to get the missing yet valuable salts and minerals. This is called puddling.
Canon EOS-1D Mark III + 180mm macro lens + 1.4 teleconverter; 1/125 sec at f9; ISO 400; Canon 580EX flash + ETTL2.
Carsten Braun (Germany) Flight of the mouse-eared bat
'After helping scientists catch and ring greater mouse-eared bats in a cave in Mayen, Germany, I photographed their release. The challenge was to set up the cameras, flashes and cables in the right place, in the pitch darkness with only a head-torch.' The greater mouse-eared bat spends four to five hours a day hunting beetles in the air and on the ground, before returning to caves to roost. In urban areas, some have swapped caves for attics to rear their young. In 1990, it was declared extinct in the UK. But in 2002, a solitary bat was found hibernating in southern England.
Canon EOS 5D + 70-200mm f2.8 lens; 1/200 sec at f16; ISO 100; four Canon 550EX flashes + light-beam sensor.
Adriano Ebenriter (Brazil) Owl glare
'One morning on the island of Florianópolis, southern Brazil, I set off towards the sand dunes to look for owls. By walking backwards towards this pair guarding their burrow, I got quite close. I found an opening in the grass, which allowed me to frame one of them against the blue sky. Then I complied with the owl's glaring demand to get off its patch, straightaway.' True to its name, the burrowing owl makes its home underground. Although it can dig its own burrows, it often uses the abandoned homes of small mammals, which it then lines with mammal dung. This helps disguise the nest from predators, and also provides a meal by attracting dung beetles - one of its favourite snacks.
Nikon D70s + 80-200mm f2.8 lens at 200mm; 1/3200 sec at f5.6; ISO 400. This photograph is available to buy as a print.
Andreas Byrne (United Kingdom) Car-park robins
'I went to the gardens at the Devon home of Edwardian scientist Otto Overbeck. As soon as I arrived, two robins landed on my car aerial and then hopped up to me. I put my camera on its widest setting and one robin hopped to within 30 centimetres of it. Thus a strip of tarmac proved to be as rewarding, photographically, as Overbeck's exotic gardens.' In spite of its friendly image, the robin is territorial and highly aggressive towards other robins. Adult males and females look the same, but males distinguish potential mates from rivals by song. Both sexes sing to defend their territories, but females are less vocal and their songs are shorter.
Canon A620 compact + fixed zoom lens; 1/50 sec at f8; ISO 100.
Claudio Contreras Koob (Mexico) Big baby nap
'I was photographing wildlife on Guadalupe Island off the coast of Mexico as part of a major scientific project, and watched this elephant seal weanling splash around in the surf and then haul up onto the beach and fall asleep. It's a dangerous time, as big, plump babies with limited swimming skills attract great white sharks.' Female elephant seals go without food while they nurse their pups. By the time the pup is weaned, its mother is starving and abandons it to go in search of food - the youngsters are left to fend for themselves. Young elephant seals must quickly learn to catch deep-water squid, octopus, fish and crabs.
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II + Canon 300mm f2.8 IS USM lens + 2x II extender EF; 1/60 sec at f10; ISO 200; Gitzo tripod.
Juan Manuel Hernández López (Spain) Griffon glide-by
'My favourite perch is on the cliff-edge, close enough to eyeball the vultures as they rise on updrafts of warm air. As this griffon glided past, its head spot lit by the sun, I could hear the whoosh of its massive wings.' With a wingspan of up to three metres, the griffon vulture is one of the largest birds in Europe. It is built for soaring flight, travelling hundreds of kilometres each day in search of food. These sociable birds breed in large colonies on cliffs and rocky ledges. The deep gorges of the Hoces del Rio Duratón Natural Park in Spain are home to around 500 of them.
Nikon D70s + 400mm lens; 1/1600 sec at f5.6; ASA 200.
Chris van Rooyen (South Africa) Bee-eater ballet
'A boat on the Zambezi in Namibia was the perfect hide to observe bee-eaters. They never stopped chirruping to each other as they chased insects and I had the impression some were just having fun. They would weave around in the wind, hover in the updraft created by the riverbank, then fold their wings to parachute back into the nest-hole.' With its vivid red plumage, the carmine bee-eater is one of Africa's most striking birds. It is a skilled hunter and will often perch on the backs of large animals, waiting for them to flush out insect prey. Carmines nest in burrows on sandy riverbanks. They are a social species, breeding in colonies of many hundreds of birds.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II + Canon EF500mm f4 IS USM lens + 1.4 II teleconverter; 1/2500 sec at f8; ISO 400; Manfrotto 055CL tripod + 501 friction head. This photograph is available to buy as a print.
Aaron Wong (Singapore) Grouper grab
'Just as I was about to descend on an evening dive off the tropical island of Tioman, on the east coast of Malaysia, a feeding frenzy broke out: tourists on a nearby boat were tossing bread into the water. The fish came to the surface in anticipation, some even snatching food right out of people's fingers. With the sun setting, I knew there was potential for a good sun-burst shot.' Groupers are coral reef fish that live in the warm water of all oceans. They are active predators, and are at the top of the coral reef food chain. Most hide in the coral and ambush unwary fish. They seize and hold their prey with their sharp teeth.
Nikon D70 + Nikon 10.5mm lens; 1/160 sec at f11; ISO 200; Sea & Sea housing; two Sea & Sea YS90 strobes.
Piotr Naskrecki (Poland) Angry queen
'I put a portable diffusion box over the queen ant to smooth out the reflection from its shiny armour. The ant soon made its feelings clear by bending its abdomen forwards, ready to spray me with formic acid. I quickly released it, so it could go forth and multiply in its Cambodian home. And multiply…' Armoured ants, as their name suggests, are equipped with incredibly hard exoskeletons and sharp spines. Once a year, the nest produces many new queens and males. A new queen will mate with one or more males before flying off to begin a colony of its own. The queens are able to store the male ant's sperm internally and will use this to fertilise millions of eggs during their lifetime.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II + Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens; 1/160 sec at f16; 400 ISO; Canon MT-24EX and two Canon 580EX flashes + small diffusion box. This photograph is available to buy as a print.
成人奖-赞美植物 设立这个奖项的目的是为了突出美丽的植物的优点，它们无论开花还是不开花，对我们都非常重要。参赛作品无论是特写镜头，还是拍摄的这些植物的生存环境，都符合要求。
In Praise of PlantsThe aim of this category is to showcase the beauty and importance of flowering and non-flowering plants, whether by featuring them in close-up or as part of the habitat.
Winner: Cece Fabbro (United States of America) Swamp cypress
'The scene in Lake Martin, Louisiana, seemed so serene, so quiet. Yet it was anything but. All day the birds squawk, squeak and bark over mates, nesting sites and nest-building materials. This isolated cluster of ancient swamp cypress fascinated me. In the early morning mist, there was something mystical, almost eerie about them.' Swamp cypress has a great tolerance to flooding. Found in the southern parts of the USA, there are places where its roots can be submerged for months. However, it grows wooden root extensions that poke out of the water line to help the roots get oxygen. The swamp cypress in Lake Martin, Louisiana, is also home to more than 20,000 breeding herons, egrets, white ibises, roseate spoonbills, owls and ospreys.
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II + 100mm macro lens; 1/500 sec at f10; ISO 50; twin flashes. This photograph is available to buy as a print.
Fredrik Ehrenström (Sweden) Celebration lily
'When I saw a perch in a small lake near Gothenburg in Sweden my heart soared. It was a sign that the lake was recovering from acid-rain pollution. Today the pH has risen above 5 and the water is murkier with plankton, though the lake is still not completely healthy. Now I have to get much closer to the water lilies to take good photographs.' By the late 1980s, nearly a quarter of Sweden's lakes had become polluted by acid rain. Fish could no longer breed. Crayfish, lice, snails, mussels and plankton disappeared, and the lakes were eerily clear. Water lilies are one of the few species that can survive in such toxic conditions.
Nikon D200 + AF Fisheye 10.5mm f2.8 DX Nikkor lens; 1/60 sec at f16; ISO 100; Hugyfot housing; two Sea & Sea YS300 strobes. This photograph is available to buy as a print.
Thierry Van Baelinghem (France) Boletus in the rain
'The Monts du Lyonnais woods near my home outside Lyon were full of mushrooms and toadstools. Lying on the soggy leaf-litter, the challenge was to keep my equipment dry. I waited all afternoon until the sun was soft enough to bring out the delicate colour of the bolete and surrounding moss, and then I used the rain to enhance the toadstool's organic form.' Young bay boletes have chunky rounded caps, which spread out as they get older. These mushrooms grow in woodlands all over Europe and North America, and because they are less prone to maggots than other boletes, they make a good meal.
Nikon D100 + 60mm f2.8G ED AF-S micro Nikkor lens; 1/60 sec at f5.6; ISO 200.
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