Nature In Focus 2015 award and other buzz

It was on the evening of July 4th at Chancery Pavilion, Bangalore.

Nature In Focus team was announcing the winners of their photography contest. Kalyan Varma and Rohit Varma were on the stage. 

There were around 25 large prints were put up outside the main hall. We were told that those were the prints of the images that had made to the finals and beyond! I was thrilled to see three of my images there!

The ceremony started and the winning images were displayed on the huge screen on stage. The winning images were indeed amazing! 

There was an anxiousness in the atmosphere when the award ceremony started! 

Several crossed fingers and numerous eager eyes to see who would get what. None of the invited knew for which award they were called for! That was the secret organisers had guarded so much.

When the category of Animal portraits came, I was called for the 'Special Mention' award for my image of Indian Rhino that I made in Kaziranga few years back. 

Next was the turn of Wildscapes. I was called on stage as 'Winner' in the category of 'Wildscapes & Animal in its Habitat', for the image of Alpine Swifts in the backdrop of Unchalli Falls! I was excited!

Then the final moment came - to announce the 'Photographer of the Year'. All fingers crossed again. And then the name was announced - "Ashwini Kumar Bhat, for the image of Wire-tailed Swallow with the reflection of the ripples, titled - 'The Ripple Effect' ".

"Ripple Effect" - Photographer of the Year award

"The Dare Devil" - Winner, Wildscapes & Animal in its Habitat

"Golden Rhino" - Special Mention, Animal Portraits

You can find the rest of the winners in the below page of NatGeo Traveller India.

http://www.natgeotraveller.in/web-exclusive/web-exclusive-month/13-brilliant-wildlife-photography-moments/

Another update is that our images of Glowing Fungi from the forests of Western Ghats have found a place in BBC Travel! 

Below is the link:

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20150709-indias-mysterious-glowing-forests

Our original story about these glowing forest floors can be found here:

http://www.landscape-wizards.com/home/unseen-landscapes/luminous-landscapes

Hope you enjoy these.

Cheers,

Ash

So close yet so far!

It feels terrible to be so close and yet so far! The pain manifolds when the goal was something you have been dreaming for! And i have felt the pain!

This image of mine was in the finals of BBC Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2010, under the category - 'Wild Places'. It didn't make it to the podium however.

BBC WPOTY awards are the most prestigious awards in the field of Nature Photography. This was the first time I had submitted my images to the contest. Out of thirteen images that I submitted six made their way to the semis and one to the final.

BBC awards will be announced on Oct 21st in their site. They have put up a teaser now in their site which show some of the highly commended images in the contest.
Great to see Sandesh Kadur's image in the preview and feels proud to know another friend of mine who has won a prize this time!

Asking me, who is he?   Wait till 21st... :) 


For the sneak preview of some of the Highly Commended images CLICK HERE.

Cheers,
Ash

Pleasant Surprise - Sanctuary Asia Awards 2009 Special Mention!

Yesterday evening was quite busy for me. We had an entertainment evening at office and at 8:30PM I had a client call to attend. 9.00PM was my last bus from my office. By the time I kept the telephone receiver down it was just 9:00!! I rushed and ran hard only to see my bus crossing the gate... :(

Then I came by a different route and my friend dropped me home. It was 10:15PM and I was feeling quite tired. When I reached the door to bell, I saw a courier at the door. When I flipped it to see from where it had come, to my surprise it was from Sanctuary Asia!

One of my images, "Snake in the spider web" had won a special mention prize in last year's contest! I have no idea why they have intimated me this much late where as the other prizes were announced in Dec 09 itself!! And that's why it was a total surprise for me!

Anyways, here is the image -

And the blog related to that is here -
http://sumasuta.blogspot.com/2008/09/tale-of-hanging-unfortunate.html

You can view all the other winning  images HERE.

Cheers,
Ash

Canopy Contest 09 - Third Prize!

Friends,
 My image of the Shadow over the forest canopy, which I made during my last year's trek to Kumara Parvatha (KP) has won the third prize in the Photo Contest held as a part of 5th International Canopy Conference (http://www.canopy2009.org/html/P&F.html).

Below is the image and the description (as I have sent along with the image):

This image was made from the top of Kumara Parvatha, one of the highest peaks in Western Ghats. It was evening and the Sun was setting slowly on the other side of the mountain. As he was going down the shadow of the mountain slowly started covering the forest canopy beneath. Minute by minute the shadow slowly covered more and more of the canopy and within 20mins the whole region was in the shadow.

The forest including the canopy is under heavy threat everywhere. No matter if it's the tropical rain forest of the equator or the Taiga of the north. The human greed is the power behind the devastation of the beautiful green carpet of the top. The mountain shadow which slowly gulped the forest beneath looked like a symbolic representation of what is actually happening for the canopy around the world. For me the shadow represented the dark shadow of the mammoth greed of man which is ruthlessly clearing the canopy day by day.


 I feel honored to receive the prize which was judged by  - Mark Moffett, (a Nat Geo photographer), Ganesh H S , Sandesh Kadur and Shekhar Dattatri.

 First prize went to a nice image by Nanda Ramesh where he had portrayed a lone langur sitting on a branch in the canopy of a tree with wonderful clouds in the valley behind. It was a nice image. Second prize was for the image of Fire Flies by Kalyan Varma, another very rare and nice image. A tree was full of fire flies and he had captured it very nicely. Another of his image of a Great pied hornbill flying towards a canopy was chosen as a specially commended image.


Cheers,
Ash