The outcomes are in and the winner of this 12 months’s funniest wildlife photograph goes to Milko Marchetti for his very chuckle-worthy shot of a pink squirrel with its head firmly embedded in a tree. Marchetti’s shot was chosen as the general winner and winner of the Mammal class within the 2024 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards – a contest that focuses on the lighter facet of animal pictures.
The successful shot was chosen from a pool of 9,000 pictures – the best variety of entries on file within the award’s ten-year historical past. The highest 45 or so pictures had been scrutinised (and laughed over) by a gaggle of professional judges, with Marchetti’s photograph sneaking via as the final word winner in a hotly contested competitors.
“I’ve taken many, many pictures of squirrels, in lots of conditions through the years in Italy,” Marchetti defined, “however this one struck me as actually humorous and such a wierd place, as a result of it’s that actual second when the squirrel is detaching its again legs from the trunk to enter its disguise. Every time I present this picture on the nature seminars at my native pictures membership, the viewers at all times explode with raucous laughter, so I needed to enter it!”
Stefan Maier, Senior Common Supervisor of Advertising and marketing at Nikon Europe, had this to say concerning the successful shot: “We’re thrilled to rejoice Milko Marchetti’s excellent achievement within the Nikon Comedy Pictures Awards 2024. His picture, ‘Caught Squirrel,’ brilliantly captures the playful and unpredictable moments that make nature so enchanting.”
Based by skilled photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, the competitors goals to encourage via comedy by showcasing the funnier facet of the pure world and elevating consciousness about conservation. “This 12 months’s competitors acquired a file variety of entries, each a testomony to the facility of pictures in evoking emotion,” says Maier. “We sit up for persevering with to encourage the following technology of wildlife photographers via these great awards.”
Right here’s a style of a number of the different winners and Extremely Counseled pictures:
