What was the title of the event? Wildlife Photographer of the year 2019

Why did you choose to attend this event? I attended this particular event since I like taking pictures of animals and animals are my favourite thing to take pictures of. I felt this event would help me expand my knowledge on taking photos of animals and I found it interesting to see all of the animals.

When did you go? On the 13th of November 2019

Where was the event held?  At the Natural History Museum

What did you see? I saw a range of wildlife photographs that were taken by photographer who had entered wildlife photographer of the year. You can have a look yourself at the following link: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/wpy/gallery/2019/index.html 

Who were the artists and what do they create? There were a wide range of photographers, some of them were professionals whereas others were of younger ages. Such as they was a 10 and under category, an 11 to 14 category, a 15 to 17 category and then finally an 18 plus category. There were multiple other categories to name a few there was Under Water, Animals in their environment, Behaviour: Birds, Urban Wildlife, Plants and Fungi, LUMIX people’s choice and the Black and White category.

What were your first impressions? I was looking at the architecture of the building as I walked in. The building was old fashioned, and it had colourful pattern at the top of the walls. The room the exhibition was in was black.  The walls were black meanwhile the floor was a lighter shade of grey but still fairly dark. This dark environment allowed you to focus on the pictures on the wall without getting distracted that easily. There were lights behind the pictures allowing you to see the pictures clearly and make it so the lights didn’t reflect off of the pictures. This helped me focus on the picture more instead of getting distracted and allowed me to see the small details that made the picture so good. Such as a tiny bird flying in the top right corner allowing the picture to be almost perfect timing or perfect timing. As you walked in there was a tv playing a video on how to take better shots in photography. This tv had two headsets attached to it allowing two people to listen at once. This helped you learn how some of the shots were taken and how you can learn to take shots like them.

Did you find anything particularly interesting to your personally?  I personally liked the winning photo of a marmot seeing a fox and the knowingness is represented with his face reading shock as he realised the fox was still there. This shot was taken by Yongqing Bao, A Chinese photographer. I also liked a few of the animal behaviour pictures including the racoon who had set up a nest inside of a ford that was abandoned in the middle of a forest. I also liked the shot where the eagle was about to land on a tree branch. There was one shot that was shortlisted in its category. of a hummingbird above a flower gathering pollen and it was taken by an 8 year old. This proved to me no matter how old you are you can still take amazing photos.

What did you learn? Did it make you think about any art form differently? It helped me tell more easily what makes a good shot in photography. I also learnt about different cameras and what ones are good for what photos. My knowledge also expanded on all the different camera techniques as all 100 pictures were using a variety of shots and techniques. I think this event helped me learn a lot about photography and especially about cameras.

Did you enjoy the experience overall? Why? I enjoyed the experience overall as i am particularly in to photography and especially the animals behaviour genre of it. There was a wide variety of genres there and i enjoyed them all. It has inspired me to save up to get a proper camera. I want to take a picture of a whale holding a fish in its mouth with a beautiful sunset behind the whale and the water falling off behind when I go whale watching in California next summer.