Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards 2013

For the past two years, Jim has served as Chairman of the Judges for the acclaimed 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' competition co-owned by Natural History Museum, London and BBC Worldwide*.  The award ceremony for this year's competition took place October 15th at the Natural History Museum, London. We thought we’d share some of the festivities, 
along with a fun Jim flash back.

Exclusive interview with Jim regarding the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 competition 
by What Digital Camera

Central Hall at Natural History Museum, London

Central Hall transformed for awards ceremony – Natural History Museum, London

Jim presents trophy to grand title winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013,  Greg du Toit from South Africa. Jim described Greg du Toit's winning portrait as capturing a "unique moment.  Greg's image immediately catapults us to African plains," Brandenburg said. "This image stood out for both its technical excellence and the unique moment it captures. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime shot."

Jim having fun during the judging.

Pelican photograph 'Feeding of the five thousand' by Yossi Eshbol (Israel),  photo of Jim by 
Ruth Eichhorn, Director of Photography of German GEO magazine. 

Sophie Stafford (former Editor of BBC Wildlife magazine), Jim, and Kathy Moran (Senior Editor, Natural History at National Geographic magazine).  Photo by Neil Lucas.

In 1988, Jim won the grand title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year with his first and only competition entry.   Jim received the bronze Ibis award from Sir Peter Scott for his photograph 
'Oryx – Namib Desert' seen below.

Oryx - Namib Desert - Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1988 winner

If you would like to see all 100 prize-winning photographs from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 competition, please visit Natural History Museum website.  Plans are in the works for some exciting events at next year's 50th anniversary of the competition.

*Wildlife Photographer of the Year harnesses the power of photography to promote the discovery, understanding, and responsible enjoyment of the natural world. Now in its 49th year, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition provides a global showcase of the very best nature photography. The competition is co-owned by two UK institutions that pride themselves on revealing and championing the diversity of life on Earth - the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide.
Being shortlisted in this competition is something to which photographers across the world aspire. Every year emerging talents compete with established names for a chance to be hailed Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Each of the thousands of annual entries is evaluated individually by an international jury of photography experts, before being awarded a place in the top 
100 images of the year.