World’s best in deer photography showcased in new prize

Antler enthusiasts around the world sent their best shots to be judged in the inaugural Deer Photographer of the Year competition, Liam James writes

‘Starry Night’, the grand prize winning photograph (Bence Mate-Gyulaj/DPOTY)

Cave paintings dating back thousands of years illustrate the ancient relationship between humans and deer.

Like then, today’s recorders of deer have to go to great lengths to glimpse a species which is often very shy, and more fond of the night.

Efforts to capture images of these skittish, wild animals have formed a sub-genre of wildlife photography – buoyed no doubt by the natural majesty a stag’s antlers bring to a picture.

‘Strutting His Stuff’, winner of a Judges’ Choice award (Paul Madigan/DPOTY)

This year sees the launch of a new contest to seek out and celebrate the very best in the field of deer photography.

The inaugural Deer Photographer of the Year award has seen entries coming in from around the world.

The judges handed the top prize of £5,000 to an extraordinary night-time shot taken in the plains of central Hungary – with entries from the UK, Ireland and India claiming category prizes.

‘The Prince’, winner of the Portrait category (Karol Waszkiewicz/DPOTY)

Bence Mate-Gyulaj’s winning image came after months of chasing the ideal picture – taking more than 30,000 throwaway frames – until one starry night when a large fallow deer came into view and wandered against a starry sky.

Competition director Mark Nicolaides said: “The unusual manner in which Bence Mate has captured the nature of the deer, set within its nocturnal habitat, make this photograph a worthy winner of the competition in its inaugural year.”

‘Jumping for Joy’, winner of the Behaviour category (Graham Dixon/DPOTY)

Besides the grand prize, judges awarded prizes for the pictures that best displayed deer behaviour and their relationship with humans. There was also a youth prize, a portrait prize and a selection of Judges’ Choice winners.

One of the most moving images came from Karol Waszkiewicz in Killarney National Park, Ireland, who captured a shot of a red deer caught in a plastic wrap.

‘Blackout’, winner of the Deer and Humanity category (Karol Waszkiewicz/DPOTY)

“Red deer stags are well-known for rubbing trees, shrubs, ferns, etc, during the rut to practice rutting behaviours and strengthen their neck muscles, which are crucial during fights,” Karol said.

“Unfortunately for the stag, he had practised somewhere on the farm fields because the plastic on his head is used for baling straw for farm animals.

‘Ghost Deer’, winner of the Open category (Nikki Humphrey/DPOTY)

“His vision was seriously limited; however, he managed to disentangle himself a few days later and was not hurt by other stags in the meantime.”

Parth Kansara earned a Judges’ Choice award for his shot of a group of chital deer crossing a track in the soft morning light in Kanha National Park, India.

‘Going Against The Flow’, winner of the Youth category (Ishaan Kumar/DPOTY)

“This is a wonderful deer photograph showing natural behaviour in a stunning habitat,” judges said.

Deer Photographer of the Year is an annual competition that welcomes submissions from anyone, anywhere who has photographed a deer.

‘Nature Sync’, winner a Judges’ Choice award (Parth Kansara/DPOTY)

It was created by Mark Nicolaides – an award-winning physics teacher in Dorset – to celebrate the life of deer and promote awareness of the role they play in an ecosystem.

The full list of winners and highly commended entries can be seen on the competition website here – where free entries into next year's competition can be submitted from 1 September.