Best Photo of ZooChat 2019: The Vote

Which photo do you think is the best?

  • Cuttlefish head-on in different colors

    Votes: 2 4.4%

  • Colchester Zoo

    Votes: 1 2.2%

  • Grey crowned crane

    Votes: 4 8.9%

  • Hertha the Polar Bear cub, Berlin Tierpark, April 2019

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Père David's Deer - 22/04/2019

    Votes: 18 40.0%

  • Simba

    Votes: 2 4.4%

  • Snow leopard

    Votes: 2 4.4%

  • Yangtze giant softshell turtle

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Prevost's squirrel : Cotswold WP : 14 Jun 2019

    Votes: 2 4.4%

  • Plumed or Green Basilisk

    Votes: 14 31.1%
  • Total voters
    45
  • Poll closed .
birdsandbats

birdsandbats

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
It's time. We will finally decide what the best photo of ZooChat in 2019 is. We have 10 to choose from:

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Cuttlefish head-on in different colors by @sooty mangabey at Chester Zoo

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Colchester Zoo by @4ways NAP at Colchester Zoo

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Grey crowned crane by @Stefan Verhoeven at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm

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Hertha the Polar Bear cub, Berlin Tierpark, April 2019 by @sooty mangabey at Berlin Tierpark

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Père David's Deer - 22/04/2019 by @SMR at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

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Simba by @hjkr at Yorkshire Wildlife Park

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Snow leopard by @Neva at ZOO Ústí nad Labem

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Yangtze giant softshell turtle by @Himimomi at Suzhou Forest Zoo

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Prevost's squirrel : Cotswold WP : 14 Jun 2019 by @ro6ca66 at Cotswold Wildlife Park

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Plumed or Green Basilisk by @Stefan Verhoeven at Zoo Frankfurt

Let the voting begin! It will end in 7 days.
 
With such great photos it is realy very difficult to choose but I voted for the one I nominated myself ( the Green basilisk ) but have to say that if that one wasn't avaible I would have voted for the Pere David's deer.
 
Regulars know I am a cat fanatic and there are three great cat photos to choose from (one of which I nominated). Yet I surprised myself for voting instead for a lizard (green basilisk). As a photographer I find this one unbeatable. Everything just comes together: the way it is framed by the leaves, the way it pops out with the black background, the way the shallow depth-of-field forces attention to the in-focus eyes, the full range of tones with detail remaining in the highlights (nothing blown out), the way the lizard looks like it is smiling at us. This is as close to perfection as a wildlife portrait can be and one of the best, if not the best, reptile photos I have ever seen.
 
I voted for the boxing deer, but am equally attracted to the basilik. There are a few factors that could actually change my vote, including whether the deer shot was one of a burst of 76, or something like that ;)
 
Arizona Docent said:
Regulars know I am a cat fanatic and there are three great cat photos to choose from (one of which I nominated). Yet I surprised myself for voting instead for a lizard (green basilisk). As a photographer I find this one unbeatable. Everything just comes together: the way it is framed by the leaves, the way it pops out with the black background, the way the shallow depth-of-field forces attention to the in-focus eyes, the full range of tones with detail remaining in the highlights (nothing blown out), the way the lizard looks like it is smiling at us. This is as close to perfection as a wildlife portrait can be and one of the best, if not the best, reptile photos I have ever seen.
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Thank you so much for these very kind words!
 
My vote is in. I loved all of them and would really enjoy the back story from each photographer on how they captured them. Just a few thoughts as I viewed all the nominations.

#1 Has a great 3d effect, feels like the cuddle fish is coming right at me.
#2 Great shot with perfect composition, focus, and lighting.
#3 Wonderfully creative and expertly captured.
#4 Well done. This really tells the story of the mother offspring relationship.
#5 Beautiful action shot. With the grass flying, it really shows a fight is going on.
#6 Outstanding photo. I love the creative angle this was shot from.
#7 Another great shot with perfect composition, focus, and lighting. Love the eye highlights.
#8 I love this photo. It creates sense of mystery and danger.
#9 Another great action photo. It really portrays a sense of speed. Perfect focus.
#10 Outstanding shot. Perfectly framed and exposed. Has a 3d effect and creates some mystery.
 
Well, wow, thank you to the people that nominated one of my photos, and thank you again for voting for it! There are some amazing images posted on ZooChat, and it's an honour to be considered amongst such esteemed company. My photograph of an Andean bear was a close runner-up in 2017, so it's great to go one better.

To give a little background on the image of the Père David's deer, it was taken from a car window on the final stretch of Passage Through Asia at ZSL Whipsnade. When I got there the deer were all seated around the small mud hole, so I shot one or two head studies. A few of the males started to become uneasy, stood and began posturing, so I thought some sparring might follow. It was really brief, and no, I didn't fire off seventy-six images (I was using an α7RIII not my α9) but it is one in a sequence of about ten, after which calm quickly returned. The light and background were favourable, and I thought it might've turned out OK, and it's actually hair flying between the two animals, which is easier to see on the full-size version.
 
Congratulations for the Winners! Absolutely fantastic shots! Especially Pere David's Deer and Grey-crowned Crane are really inspiring for me. The first - as an essence of great dynamic capture and the second as something I really value in photography: magical close-up.

Thank you for the nomination and votes! :)
The snow leopard was done in one-day trip to Usti nad Labem zoo, Czech Republic. Few days before I didn't know I will be going there, but... there were kittens of Geoffroy's cat and tickets did bought themselves :P. In time of loss of hope (to catch on photographs the kittens) I was wandering... wandering... and met this beautiful snow leopard ;).
 
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