Pixiq

The winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition have just been announced, and boy are there some cracking photos on display. You’d hope so, as well, knowing that the winner was bitten all over by chiggers when getting his shot, one guy lost his camera to a polar bear, and another had to avoid being chomped on by a caiman!

Last year’s competition might’ve been bathed in scandal, as it emerged that the winner’s photograph of a wolf wasn’t quite as authentic as he’d claimed, but that didn’t deter the entrants (or the organisers) this year. If anything, it made them up their game and submit some eye-watering images.

A Marvel of Ants, by Bence Máté

The overall winner was Bence Máté, with his picture of leaf-cutter ants doing their thing in a rain forest in Costa Rica. The Young Photographer prize went to Fergus Gill, for a glorious shot of a fieldfare feeding on a frozen Rowan tree.

The Frozen Moment, by Fergus Gill

The exhibition of the winning and commended photographs opens at the Natural History Museum in London tomorrow. But if you can’t make it there, then spend a while wandering through the online gallery. It’s all worth a look, but I’d especially recommend the young people’s photos.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition runs from 22 October 2010 to 11 March 2011 at the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.