Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022: what are Natural History Museum’s highly commended pictures?

Every year, wildlife photographers from around the world are invited to submit their best photos to the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest.

The entries always amaze, with some stunning images submitted from talented photographers who have captured creatures in their natural habitats around the world.

The winners won’t be announced until later this year but some of this year’s highly commended entries have already been revealed.

So, just what is the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, what are the highly commended entries, and when will the winners be announced?

Here’s everything you need to know.

What is Wildlife Photographer of the Year?

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year has been recognising the world’s best nature photography every year since 1965.

The contest takes place every year, and is open to everyone - whether they are an amateur or a professional, or shoot in the wilderness or at the heart of an urban environment.

People of all ages can also enter from any place in the world.

There are various categories, including animals in their environment, plants and fungi and underwater,  and people are welcome to submit up to 25 photos across all of the categories.

There are numerous awards up for grabs, with a top prize of £10,000, trophy and personalised certificate for the person aged over 18 who is named the Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

There are other prizes available for young wildlife photographers under the age of 18.

Where have the photographs for the 2022 contest come from?

Entries to this year’s competition were submitted from people of different ages and experience levels from a total of 93 different countries.

When will the 2022 winners be announced?

A panel of expert judges have decided which images will claim the top prizes this year, but the  winners won’t be announced until October.

All photographs were judged anonymously on creativity, originality, and technical excellence by an international panel of industry experts.

Winners will be announced on 11 October.

When and where will this year’s winning images be exhibited?

An exhibition of the 100 award-winning shots will open at the Natural History Museum, London, on 14 October.

The redesigned exhibition space will position the photographs among short videos, quotes from photographers and insights from Museum scientists.

If you can’t make it to the Museum to see the exhibition in person, you can also view all the photos from the competition online.

What are the Highly Commended entries for the 2022 contest?

Below you’ll find a selection of images from the 2022 competition which have been highly commended.

They are listed in no particular order.

Red Deer Stag

Joshua and his dad followed the deer at a safe distance before he was able to capture the shot.

Joshua said: “He almost looked as if he was having a snow shower.”

Polar Bear

This polar bear lives on an island place which was abandoned by humans in 1992. When Dmitry’s boat approached the small island, he was surprised to spot movement in one of the houses, but managed to capture this epic shot.

Female tree frogs

The photographer, Güell, had to wade through murky water to get this image. Each female lays around 200 eggs and eventually the tadpoles will drop into the water below.

Giraffe

This picture is symbolic of how the space for wildlife continues to be squeezed in the world. Here a giraffe is dwarfed by giant pillars of Kenya’s new Standard Gauge railway.

European perch

The photographer of this image framed the fish flying through clouds of pink-tinged algae. She was thrilled to find the fish on her annual snorkel in Honkalampi lake as in the previous three years she had found only dead fish.

Coconut octopus

Samuel was muck diving in Indonesia when he noticed this octopus. He lowered the power of his strobe lamp so as not to distress it. The octopus shut the lid of the shell when Samuel approached but then slowly reopened it, revealing colours and coils.

Pygmy rabbit and a stink beetle

The person who took this image set up camera traps by the active burrows of pygmy rabbits in the Columbia Basin in Washington state to observe their comings and goings and managed to capture this meeting between a rabbit and a bettle which had been sheltering in its burrow.

Whale

The photographer’s encounter with this curious whale calf lasted 30 minutes, with the whale circling him, swimming off, then returning for another look.

Dippers

Dippers use ‘dipping’ rocks as a launch pad to scout rivers before diving down to hunt mayfly, caddisfly larvae and small fish.

After years of visiting the river in Kuusamo, photographer Heikki Nikki knew every ‘dipping’ rock favoured by white-throated dippers.

Picking one hidden beneath flowing water, he sat quietly on the bank and captured this fleeting moment as two birds fought over prime position.

Sloth and a dog

This image was taken in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica. The trained dog simply sniffed at the slot h

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