Product Description

"Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio 19" is undoubtedly the most outstanding new collection of nature photographs available. The book showcases more than 120 stunning images from the 2009 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition - the most prestigious event of its kind. All the winning and commended photographs are here, selected by an international panel of expert judges and beautifully reproduced in this portfolio. Choosing the winning entries from an incredible 35,000 entries submitted by photographers around the world is not easy. Each year the new collection is eagerly awaited by nature lovers and photography buffs alike - and each year they are not disappointed, as the quality of the images and the ingenuity of photographers reach new heights of excellence. The range of subjects and styles is diverse - from abstract nature images to animal behaviour and portraits to environmental reportage. Together they celebrate the splendour, drama and variety of life on Earth. Each photograph is accompanied by a memorable caption that tells the story of how and why the shot was taken. Being placed in this competition is something that wildlife photographers the world over aspire to. To succeed, they need a mixture of vision, technical ability, knowledge of nature - and luck. All these elements are here in abundance in these inspirational photographs that bring the breathtaking beauty of the natural world to your coffee table.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #494 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

Surprisingly sub-par
If you pick this up in a bookshop you're likely to think 'wow, this is some amazing wildlife photography' and as this new 160 page volume represents the best in the world, the top choices of over 40,000 responses that is a fair comment. The thing is this is not a stand alone volume. Its been going for years and years. I think I asked in a review of one of the previous couple of volumes whether the increase in quality could be maintained or even surpassed. This volume answered the question for me and disappointingly the answer is no.

There is a certain amount of luck in any photo, especially in wildlife photography where timing is everything. You'd think it would all average out but despite the continuing increase in entries this year left me less impressed than the last 5 year's competitions, all of which I bought. Sure, there are some gems and if you buy it every year then I don't need to tell you that there will be some amazing photos in here, but its certainly not as good as portfolio 18 (Maybe the highlight of the entire series, to date) or the previous 3, come to think of it. Some of the photos seemed less than techically perfect in terms of focus and some of the black and whites seemed clumsy to me though maybe this reflected the tasts of some new judges. I don't know. I can only say that I was surprised that the photography in this volume was not better. I suppose I have been spoilt by the last few years where they just seemed to get better and better and better.

If you only want the one coffee table wildlife book to wow your friends, get volume 18, or 17 too if you want a couple.

I hope next year's volume 20 will represent a return to form.

Wow
Raising the bar every years seems impossible?
Just purchase the WPOY series and see for yourself.
Breathtakingly beautiful and stunning.
Can't wait untill the next volume.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year; Portfolio 19
Same formula as in the previous volumes. The phots are of the usual high quality and interest. This provides access to these photos in your own home and is of particular value to those of us who cannot go to see the exhibition. I browse through the previous volumes frequently and will do the same with this.