The 2021 BigPicture Natural World Photography Contest Reveals The Best Shots Of Mother Nature (30 Pics)

It’s the eighth year that the California Academy of Sciences has held the competition and the entries don’t stop amazing us. These images originally appeared on bioGraphic, an online magazine about science and sustainability and the official media sponsor for the California Academy of Sciences’ BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition. If you would like to see what bioGraphic is up to, you can follow them on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The photographers were invited to send pictures that showcase Earth’s biodiversity and show some of the mounting threats to the natural world.

If this is your first time hearing about this competition and you are interested to see the best shots from last year‘s competition, Bored Panda gathered them in this article.

The contestants could send their entries from December 1, 2020 to March 7, 2021 and then the jury, consisting of photographers and photo editors, chose their winners.

BigPicture Co-founder Rhonda Rubinstein explained to us how the judges pick a winner, "The judges vote on each image, using a 1-5 scale that takes into consideration originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact and artistic merit. The votes are tallied, and the Grand Prize winner is the image that received the highest score overall, regardless of category."

The Grand Prize winner was awarded $5,000 and the categories that Rhonda Rubinstein mentioned are: Art of Nature, Aquatic Life, Winged Life, Landscapes, Waterscapes, and Flora, Terrestrial Wildlife, Human/Nature and Photo Story: Out of the Ordinary.

The winner this year is Jo-Anne McArthur, who is a Canadian photojournalist. Her photo, titled "Hope Amidst the Ashes," depicts a female eastern grey kangaroo with a baby kangaroo in her pouch standing surrounded by burnt trees.

McArthur is also an animal rights activist and she took this photo while accompanying Vets for Compassion as the organization searched for koalas injured in the Australian bushfires.

bioGraphic wrote, "For McArthur, it was a powerful moment: two of Australia’s most iconic species—the kangaroo and the eucalyptus tree—standing at a worrisome crossroads in their history. But the individuals in her frame were also symbols of hope, that life can persist against all odds."

When remembering what photographs the competition received the previous years and comparing them to this year's submissions, Rhonda Rubinstein admits that "The biggest trend was how many photographers discovered life and beauty in their own backyards or nearby environments! It is unusual to see so many photo locations match that of the photographers' home base."

That is understandable as everyone was traveling less and exploring their local areas. When asked about the challenges that the pandemic posed, BigPicture Jury Chair Suzi Eszterhas answered, "Rather than having challenges this year due to the pandemic, our judges had a major advantage in the fact that they weren’t traveling! Since most of our judges are professional nature photographers they have busy travel schedules and it can be a challenge for them to find the time (and a stable internet connection) if they are traveling during the judging period. But because most of us were stuck at home, we had more time to put into the judging this year."

So the organizers and the judges found that the pandemic actually allowed them to spend more time evaluating the pictures. But how about the photographers? Well, it seems that this year the competition had an abundance of entries, "This year we received the highest number of images ever! 8,390 submissions—an increase of more than 30% compared to 2020," Rubinstein said.

She also had a few guesses what could have been the reasons for it, "Perhaps it was because photographers were at home and had time to look through their images and submit, perhaps it was because we encouraged more female photographers to enter by promoting a discount during the last month, or perhaps it was because we extended the deadline by a week. Likely answer: all of the above."

What do you think of these pictures? Which would you pick as the winner? Put your opinions in the comments and upvote the photos that are the most impressive in your eyes!