Gallery of Winners and Finalists

Milko Marchetti (Italian) with their picture “Stuck squirrel”
“The photo was taken on April 23, 2022, in the “Podere Pantaleone” park in Bagnacavallo – Ravenna – Italy.
It is a park open to the public and schools, but from October to March, it is closed to visitors, and I am allowed (in exchange for photographs for educational and promotional purposes) to use a fixed photographic hide to photograph passerines, woodpeckers, hawks, and even 3-4 squirrels that come to visit the photographic set consisting of a small lake, and the surrounding vegetation. Generally, in Italy, especially in the area where I live, in the Po Delta Regional Park, it is very difficult to see and photograph squirrels (they are very rare) but here in the park they are quite confident.
A few meters from the hide, an old cut tree has a hole (an old woodpecker's nest), and here the squirrels (two years ago there were 4 specimens) sometimes come out of curiousity to check out the old hollow tree.
I have taken several photos of squirrels in many situations, but the shot I choose to participate in the Nikon Comedy Wildlife immediately struck me for the strange position assumed by the squirrel that seems to be stuck halfway in the hole in the tree, but in reality it is the moment in which it is detaching the support on its hind legs and enters the hole.
This photo had an effect on me and made me smile a lot in that moment that I clicked the button, and during my evenings of slideshows and nature videos that I often hold at photography clubs and theaters, the audience always explodes in energetic laughter when I show this photo. I knew I had to enter it into the competition.”

Insects Award
Jose Miguel Gallego Molina (Spanish) with their picture “Mantis Flamenca”
“On my way back from my photo walk in a swamp near my town (Pantano el Sitjar), I suddenly stopped my car on the road when I saw someone ordering me to stop. This was when I saw my friend the Flemish Mantis for the first time. You can imagine the faces of the other cars passing by, seeing a car with the indicators on and the door open, stopped on the roadside and a madman lying on the ground with his camera in his hand.”

ThinkTANK Reptiles and Amphibians Award
Eberhard Ehmke (German) with their picture “Frog in a balloon”
“During a photo shoot at the pond I discovered this frog with its head in a bubble. This resembles a tree bell.”

Spectrum Photo Birds Award
Damyan Petkov (Bulgarian) with their picture “Whiskered Tern crash on landing”
“Whiskered tern head hit the rock when try to land”

Fish and Other Aquatic Species Award
Przemyslaw Jakubczyk (Polish) with their picture “Unexpected role swap”
“Every annoyed and overtired fish needs to de-stress by hunting for a bald eagle”

Nikon Junior Category (Under 16) Award
Sarthak Ranganadhan (Indian) with their picture “Smooching owlets”
“Our parents always find a way to embarrass us, I guess that's also true in the case of spotted owlets. It was truly a funny sight to see two owlets trying to get some privacy as their little offspring stood next to them with a grin shut eyes.”

Nikon Young Photographer Category (Under 25)
Kingston Tam (Hong Kong) with their picture “Awkward smiley frog”
“I’ve always been interested in photography since I was about 10. And I started out just taking snapshots of little things like flowers, pretty skies on my cousin’s point and shoot, just like any other 10 year old would. When I was about 16, I got super interested in star trail photography and started doing it on the Nikon p900 since it has a star trail mode for dummies. Slowly, it evolved to proper wide angle landscape and astrophotography (Milky Way and deep sky) and that’s when I invested in a bit of gear and really dived into learning about the technical and creative side of photography, trying to do better every time I go out shooting. I also decided to pick up photography for my high school art class and dabbled in some street photography. In 2022 I moved to Australia from Hong Kong to study wildlife science and my friends got me into ‘herping’ (looking for reptiles and amphibians in the wild) and through that, I met a bunch of amazing photographers who specialise in taking photos of these critters and I started doing it as well. And that’s how I ended up photographing critters. My goal for my images is to bring attention to our scaly or moist friends, showing that not only fluffy animals can be cute and beautiful. Ultimately, I wish my work could bring more conservation awareness to these amazing reptiles and amphibians, and that’s been my motivation to keep doing what I’m doing. This award is by far my biggest photography achievement yet. I never thought an accomplishment this scale would be achievable but I’m grateful that this photograph has been recognised by the judges and many others. This award would be a reminder to me that I should keep my passion up because someone out there appreciates my work and hopefully it can encourage people to show some love to not just the fluffy animals but also the slimy and scaly friends.”

Affinity Photo 2 People's Choice Award
Tapani Linnanmäki (Finnish) with their picture “Shake ruffle rattle and roll”
“ In the picture, a white-tailed eagle is ruffling its feathers. The picture was taken with the Nikon Z9's autocapture feature. The camera is placed on top of the sea ice on top of a bag of nuts at the level of the ice. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this picture. There were more than ten funny poses and expressions in the photo series.”

Video Category Winner
Kevin Lohman (USA) with their picture “Fox with the zoomies!”
“A Red Fox on a cold morning couldn't get enough of having fun rolling around on frosty grass. I had been watching this fox walking slowly across the grass when it suddenly got the zoomies like my dog does after its bath. It started rolling around on the ice-covered grass, then sliding, then shaking it off like nothing happened.”

Leslie McLeod (Canadian) with their picture “Hide and seek”
“We were on safari in Kenya and happened upon this beautiful female who was looking for a mate. A group of topi were also keeping a pretty close eye her as she left messages for a potential partner on various trees. This shot makes me think that the cheetah is just about to shout out, "ready or not, here I come!"”

Andy Rouse (British ) with their picture “Alright Mate Back off- this is my bird”
“ This image was taken in South Georgia, it really does show a male king penguin trying to make a move on a female who has already paired up with her male. The body position and wing posture make the message clear - "back off!"”

Randy Herman (USA) with their picture “You're not my mother”
“This female Red-bellied Woodpecker had been investigating this Screech Owl nest for a couple of days; perhaps it was her nest last year? This little owlet was definitely startled, and didn't seem to know what to make of this intruder. The woodpecker moved on, and the owlet fledged with its two siblings about an hour late”

Sanjay Patil (Indian) with their picture “The Rock Star”
“Fan-throated lizards are found only in the Indian subcontinent, where they have evolved under the influence of changing climates. These lizards are colorful and belong to the category of reptiles. Female Lizards do not display fan as they do not have. Male lizards inflates its attractive neck pouch to attract the female in hot summer season. Here is the female lizard standing upright to escape the summer heat.”

Takashi Kubo (Japanese) with their picture “Mafia Boss”
“It looked like he was sucking a cigar, and he looked like a mafia boss.”

Artur Stankiewicz (Polish) with their picture “I'm too sexy for my love”
“One of the 'lazy' mornings we have decided to stop by the pool with hippos while in Mana Pools NP. My idea was to try and catch fighting hippos, yet, they all were quite peaceful. I have positioned on the bank, safely from the potential charge and waited. Some of them raised their heads in curiosity or when proximity to the other individuals was too close. Then I got this idea to catch the portrait with water plants decorating he head, It looked like the guy just got our of the hairdresser with a big smile on his face :)”

Ralph Robinson (British ) with their picture “Gang of four”
“On the penguin highway, these rockhoppers are moving into town, and this town ain't big enough for all of them! I set up my camera a good distance from this ridge, where rockhopper penguins were returning from feeding in the southern Atlantic ocean in the Falkland Islands. The long lens pulled them into the frame without disturbing their return to nests on the hill. I love photographing penguins after they've been in the water as they are cleaner! These birds look like they are ready to kick some penguin ass!”

Arvind Mohandas (German) with their picture “The Contemplative Chimpanzee”
“Shot in the jungles of Uganda, following a group of around 50 chimpanzees. This one was obviously comtemplating an important issue, on a day of realization and reaffirmation of how close chimpanzees are to humans!”

Marti Phillips (USA) with their picture “Are you kidding”
“Two Cape Fur seals having a laugh”

Jan Piecha (German) with their picture “I'll tell you a secret”
“A tiny raccoon is telling a secret to its mum while whispering in her ear.”