Wildlife Photographer of the Year - Title Stripped!

[BMWBen]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8470962.stm

Can't believe this, went to see the selected shots a couple of months ago and was amazed by this one and the lengths that he apparently went to to get the shot.

Not sure how they could deduce it was a set-up really...

[Simpo Two]

It can't be proved but perhaps he mentioned it carelessly on a forum?

But then that would be proof.

Hmm.

Some new info must have come to light to make the judges think again.



(Bet the BBC don't hand back the copyright though)

[GetCarter]

Something must have tipped them off

[d1d215]

whaaaat !!! common !

[Pvapour]

saw the display at London Natural History museum with my Dad, we were both blown away by this shot and both jeered it must be set up (jokingly)

they had an amazing interactive display where you could email yourself copies of the shots

Edited by Pvapour on Wednesday 20th January 18:14

[BMWBen]

Pvapour said:

saw the display at London Natural History museum with my Dad, we were both blown away by this shot and both jeered it must be set up (jokingly)

they had an amazing interactive display where you could email yourself copies of the shots

Edited by Pvapour on Wednesday 20th January 18:14

Well, same here. my first thought was... "how the fk?"

But then I read a bit about it and it seemed plausible.

[olimeads]

i didnt read the story fully, but i did read about this a few weeks ago. it was believed the fox was stuffed or tame, as a fox wouldnt jump over the gate they would go through the gap at the bottom to keep unseen.

Still a crackin shot.

oli

[Simpo Two]

fking big fox!





Hey, that was weird - when I hit refresh to check my post I saw 'stevecarter.com' in the status bar..

Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 20th January 21:30

[_dobbo_]

Simpo Two said:

Hey, that was weird - when I hit refresh to check my post I saw 'stevecarter.com' in the status bar..

That's because it was loading the image Steve posted showing off his photoshop skills.

As to the photo - I did wonder whether a Wolf would jump a gate in such a way, but being no expert in Wolf behaviour I just assumed it was legit!

[delboy735]

http://www.suomenluonto.fi/bbcs-nature-photo-compe...

Some interesting comparisons here, but nothing conclusive really.

[SirClarke]

Wolves do vary a huge amount in colouration and patterning etc and those two do look quite remarkably similar.

I think the suggestion originally was that a wild wolf would have no reason to jump the gate and would likely pass straight through the gaps (the quicker, safer and less exposed option). Also that the gate was rather conveniently fairytale like and photogenic for a random gate in a field in a poor rural part of Spain.

Then someone started looking for tame wolves in the area and found that one and they do look the same/are the same. Shame as it's clearly a nicely composed and balanced shot.

This will all raise the profile of the competition even more though which is a good thing

[idlewillo]

Fake or not its a stunning photo which i think is amazing

[BMWBen]

delboy735 said:

http://www.suomenluonto.fi/bbcs-nature-photo-compe...

Some interesting comparisons here, but nothing conclusive really.

Hmmmmm, quite interesting. The wolf comparison is not conclusive, and I don't think it has the same proportions facially.

The gate location is interesting - anyone with a decent copy of the photo and photoshop could ramp up the brightness and see if they can identify the two straight trees to the left of the suspicously similar curved one in the middle distance.

[Nero601]

GetCarter said:

Something must have tipped them off

nice one GC

[Podie]

Nero601 said:

GetCarter said:

Something must have tipped them off

nice one GC

That deserves another

[10JH]

I think what the experts thought is that the wolf would have no reason to jump the gate, like someone said, it could fit through the slats.

[Dogsey]

BMWBen said:

delboy735 said:

http://www.suomenluonto.fi/bbcs-nature-photo-compe...

Some interesting comparisons here, but nothing conclusive really.

Hmmmmm, quite interesting. The wolf comparison is not conclusive, and I don't think it has the same proportions facially.

The gate location is interesting - anyone with a decent copy of the photo and photoshop could ramp up the brightness and see if they can identify the two straight trees to the left of the suspicously similar curved one in the middle distance.

While it's not conclusive (although facial proportions are diffcult to compare as one photo has winter coat and the other summer), the fact that the two wolves seem fairly similar coupled with the fact that the captive wolf is in a similar area to the photographer, that the background seems very similar and that, as others have pointed out, jumping the gate would not appear to be natural behaviour does suggest that it was a staged shot.

[beano500]

I think the gate looks a bit iffy, myself.

I don't think it's a completely wild gate.

[Hugo a Gogo]

beano500 said:

I think the gate looks a bit iffy, myself.

I don't think it's a completely wild gate.

has he committed an off-fence?

[beano500]

Clearly - cos it's been barred.