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.

Holiday Greetings from Jim

 

Wishing you peace this holiday season

with good health and prosperity in the new year!

From Jim Brandenburg and family,
and all of us at the Brandenburg Gallery 

Jim Premieres the New Nikon P7700

Jim was honored to participate in another Nikon project, the release of the Nikon Coolpix P7700.  Nikon spent a week in Ely, Minnesota filming Jim as he used the P7700.  They visited several of Jim's favorite areas to photograph, all located around his home, Ravenwood.  To see video of Jim using the P7700 and additional sample images, please visit this link.

The Nikon Coolpix P7700 is the newest flagship model for Nikon’s Coolpix series of cameras. The P7700 is a high-performance compact digital camera loaded with functions that allow users to enjoy full-scale photography similar to that possible with a digital-SLR camera.

 

I often take a small simple camera with me when I go for a casual walk or canoe paddle near my home. I was pleased to work with my Nikon friends from Tokyo in introducing this exciting new P7700 pocket camera. I am surprised at how many "keepers" are made during my casual walks. This camera has enough quality to easily produce images that I will be able to publish in magazines and books. Some of the movie of me shooting with this camera was made in Brittany France while I was on assignment and some was shot while I was at home at Ravenwood.

 The Nikon crew filming Jim in the studio at his home, Ravenwood

Nikon Tech/Development: Masaya Takahashi, Videographer: Laurent Joffrion,Creative Director: Soichi Hayashi, Sound: Anthony Brandenburg, Photo: Alex Messenger

My Italian Greyhound Gracie stands at attention in the Ravenwood guest room.

My son Anthony plays our David Seaton custom made guitar at the waterfall sauna.

I often canoe past this ancient cliff-dwelling white cedar in the Boundary Waters wilderness near my home.

A blue jay feather glistens with water drops.
Weather can add an atmosphere that is often more photographically interesting than a sunny day image.

Rookie Lake has a cliff vista and is a place where people stop to make photographs.
I often do the same but try to see it in a new way.

Ravenwood Falls looks more inviting when shot with a long exposure.

The old white cedar on the wilderness cliff in the moonlight.
A strobe adds a fill light for detail in the low light of dusk.

A loon family swims in the clear water of Ojibway Lake near my home.

Chased by the Light on Twin Cities Public TV

Chased by the Light, A Photographic Journey with Jim Brandenburg will play tonight on Twin Cities Public Television.  This Emmy-nominated documentary tells the inspiring story behind Jim's best-selling book Chased by the Light.  

Tune in tonight to see Jim live on the set with Don Shelby at 8pm CST on tpt 2.

If you aren't able to catch the program tonight, the show will replay on:

March 6, 9:00 PM on tpt 2
March 7, 3:00 PM on tpt Life
March 8, 8:00 PM on tpt Life
March 9, 3:00 AM on tpt 2
March 10, 10:00 PM and 12:00 AM on tpt Life
March 11, 3:00 PM on tpt Life

Nikon Professional Insights with Jim

Today, Nikon posted a wonderful movie about Jim as part of their Professional Insights section. Jim has been back in the US for just a few days and has shared some images from the Nikon D800. Enjoy!

Fuscia Flower

Purple Sand Plant

Tidal Sea Life

Stone Arch, Etratat, Normandy, France

Colorful Butterfly

Caterpillar

Stone Arch, Etratat, Normandy, France

Stone Beach at Etratat, France

Beach Rocks

Riding at Mont St. Michel

Mont St. Michel at Dusk

Brandenburg part of production team for BBC LIFE 'Plants' program airing Sunday, April 18 on Discovery Channel

Jim Brandenburg was honored to be a part of the production team for the upcoming  'Plants' (Program 9) of the new BBC LIFE documentary series airing on The Discovery Channel, April 18th, 8PM e/p.   Brandenburg and BBC Producer Neil Lucas spent months filming Minnesota's north woods at Ravenwood, Jim Brandenburg's home near Ely, and the prairies of Southwest Minnesota. The Brandenburg Gallery, 11 E. Sheridan St., Ely, will preview ‘LIFE, Program 9: Plants,'  on Sunday, April 18, 2010, from 11 – 3PM.

Our planet may be home to more than 30 million different animals and plants.  And every single one is locked in its own life-long fight for survival.  LIFE uncovers some extraordinary strategies they've developed to stay alive and to breed.  Plants have successfully managed to conquer every habitat on the planet by using ingenious and cunning strategies. Through the use of cutting edge digital HD time-lapse photography, Plants reveals how plants battle for life and face the challenges of their habitats.   One sequence in the program is the "most complex ever done for a natural history show in the history of television" said the British science journalist Sir David Attenborough, who also wrote the LIFE series.
        
From the makers of PLANET EARTH and narrated by global media leader and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, the epic television series LIFE is the definitive exploration of our planet's living things and their spectacular, bizarre and fascinating behaviors.  A BBC and Discovery Channel co-production, the 11-part natural history series airs on Discovery Channel on Sundays from March 21 through April 18, 2010, with two episodes starting at 8PM e/p each night, and The Making of LIFE at 10PM e/p on April 18.  The entire series will be seen by over 1 billion viewers worldwide, according to BBC Producer Neil Lucas.

LIFE is epic in scope, yet intimate in its storytelling. More than four years in the making, with over 3,000 days of filming in the field, LIFE spans every continent and every habitat. Each episode focuses on a different animal or plant group, engrossing viewers with never-before-seen behaviors using the latest in state-of-the-art high-definition filming techniques.

“Plants” producer Neil Lucas and executive producer Mike Gunton offer a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this episode.

A New Year

Happy New Fear - new director's cut. Enjoy.

Jim at Ravenwood in -40˙