The Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers (SINWP) has just revealed the winners of its Bird Photographer of the Year 2022 competition, which is now in its fifth year.
Run in aid of the RSPB, one of the UK's biggest nature conservation charities, the contest this year attracted over 1,500 photographs. The wildlife subjects included a menagerie of creatures and species – everything from kingfishers to puffins to peacocks.
However, out of all the stunning entrants, the judges chose the image Piping Plover chick finds a shell as the overall winner. This charming portrait of a young Plover on the sand was captured by Sarah Keates from Massachusetts, USA, and she used a Canon EOS R5 with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, and EF 1.4x III extender – that's some serious focal length!
The best lenses for bird photography are usually telephoto lenses, but Sarah got even closer to her subject by using a teleconverter. She set an aperture of f/7.1, a shutter speed of 1/2000 sec and ISO400, using Spot Metering to ensure that her exposure was spot-on.
The award's second place was awarded to Michelle Jackson from Derbyshire, England and third position was given to Jason Gericke from Nottinghamshire, England.
The SINWP have thanked all the entrants for sharing their work, having raised over £2K for the RSPB this year, and over £10K over the five years that the competition has been running.
For more on the Bird Photographer of the Year 2022, and to see all the entries, visit the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers' website.
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