Winning snap! A hunting lizard wins a prize for a wildlife photographer
Saut Hutabarat has won a WWT Photography competition People’s Choice prize with this striking photo of a hungry lizard.
Visitors to the WWT photography competition website voted this image as the winner for the autumn heat of the contest in the London region. The photo, taken at WWT London Wetland Centre, shows a common lizard which has just caught a large spider.
WWT London Wetland Centre’s Chief Ecologist Richard Bullock said
“Although common lizards are a regular sight at London Wetland Centre, basking on logs and wooden bridges, it is more unusual to spot them hunting in the undergrowth. Saut has not only found a hunting lizard but managed to capture it beautifully on film: it looks like a ferocious jungle predator secretly observed at a kill. To a small beetle or spider in the undergrowth, that’s exactly what it is.”
Saut Hutabarat said
“I am absolutely delighted that my photo was voted the best in the London region. I always enjoy visiting London Wetland Centre as it is a perfect place for wildlife photography: there’s always something new to see as the seasons change.”
The competition’s autumn heat received an influx of over 2,500 online entries and a staggering 12,800 votes in the People’s Choice category. Autumn heat winners representing each of WWT’s nine wetland centres were chosen from each of the main categories - Wetland Wildlife, Wetland Landscapes, Wildlife & People and Junior Photographer of the Year (under 18s). WWT is calling on all nature lovers and photographers to submit their most prized pictures before 29 February 2012 when the winter heat will close. All the regional winners for each of the four seasonal heats will go through to the national finals to be held in Autumn 2012.
London Wetland Centre is a favourite spot for photographers who enjoy capturing images of its beautiful lakes, reedbeds, gardens and marshes as they change through the seasons. They also benefit from close access to wildlife, such as the variety of birds, and the thriving populations of water voles and lizards.
To be in with the chance of winning the grand prize of the trip to Antarctica, entrants must submit at least three or more photographs in at least two or more seasonal heats. If this criteria is met, the entrant’s ‘portfolio’ will be automatically entered into the Portfolio Photographer of the Year category. At the national finals, each portfolio photographer’s three best photographs (as shortlisted by the judges) will be considered with the winner receiving the Portfolio Photographer of the Year Award and the grand prize of a 12-day fully inclusive trip to Antarctica, courtesy of Exodus in partnership with Quark Expeditions.
The competition is being held in association with Canon, in celebration of the Scott Antarctic Expedition Centenary, and offers an amazing £50,000 worth of fantastic prizes for the national winners, including a grand prize for the Portfolio Photographer category of a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Antarctica courtesy of Exodus in partnership with Quark Expeditions.
For more information, or to enter the competition, visit www.wwt.org.uk/photo
