The winners of the Czech Nature Photo competition for nature photographers were announced at the Czech Photo Centre gallery at the award ceremony. The international jury was clearly impressed by the image of Slovak photographer Miroslav Ondrus, who captured a duel of bears, and awarded him the title of Photograph of the Year. The winner was selected by an expert jury with the participation of Spanish photographer Roberto García-Roy from more than 2,400 photographs. 254 photographers from the Czech and Slovak Republics submitted their work to the competition. The third edition of the competition for pupils and students Czech Photo Junior attracted 157 entries; they submitted almost 1500 images.
The seventh edition of the Czech Nature Photo exhibition will be held in two places this year. The outdoor exhibition will be presented mainly by students and pupils of primary and secondary schools. The latter is located at the exit from the Nové Butovice metro station on the boulevard in the direction of Poliklinika Lípa and will lead visitors to the Czech Photo Centre gallery, where award-winning and selected images by professional photographers will be exhibited. The exhibition will be open to the public from 11 May.
"The photograph of the wrestling bears was unanimously chosen as the winning one by the entire jury. It captures the moment when a mother bear defends her cubs. It is technically brilliantly executed, it exudes emotion, is action-packed and shows a unique moment of animal behaviour in the wild," says Petr Slavik, the jury chairman.
"The photo was taken unplanned in the middle of a very hot and dry summer in Veľká Fatra. I waited in a folding photo booth almost until dark. At the moment I started packing, a bear of about 150 kg was slowly approaching through the massive trees. The exposure showed borderline usable values, but I was ready for a few documentary shots if he happened to come close. But there was no way to prepare for what unfolded in front of the lens. The familiar sounds of a bear family started coming from the opposite side than the bear was coming. The cubs were running around, squealing here and there as they fought together, with the occasional educational growl from the female bear. Suddenly the female bear stood on her hind legs and began to look around - probably to watch where the cubs were, and then suddenly ran towards the surprised male. They clashed in a wild and furious fight that lasted only a few dozen seconds. After about half a minute, it was over and the female bear returned to her cubs. At this point I began to shudder at what had just unfolded before my eyes," says the author of the photo of the year.
Miroslav Ondruš was very close to nature from an early age and spent most of his free time there, which lasted his whole life. He graduated from the Faculty of Forestry in Zvolen and has been working in forestry ever since. Photography is his great hobby; although he has attended several photography workshops, he considers himself self-taught. In his childhood he used a Zenit camera and tried to document the beauty of nature. He has always been fascinated by the life of wildlife, especially large carnivores. His work brought him to Liptov, where he started photographing beasts. Every encounter with a bear, a wolf or a lynx is an unforgettable experience for him. Nowadays he works as a forest manager and is in the forest every day, he carries his camera with him all the time. Now he is no longer just photographing wildlife, but also nature, from the details of flowers to the landscape.
The traditional voting for the best photo from the competition according to the readers of Lidé a Země magazine took place throughout April, and this year it was won by Ondřej Prosický for his photo On watch.
The full programme will be published on the website www.czechphoto.org.
1st place: Miroslav Ondruš / When the bear defends the cubs
2nd place: Jaromír Daněk / Musk Ox - measuring of forces
3rd place: Matěj Šmucr / This is my lunch
1st place: Tomáš Grim / "Why a bullfighter?!"
2nd place: Pavel Vítek / Ducks in ice circles
3rd place: Ondřej Prosický / On guard
1st place: Vít Lukáš / Desperate female
2nd place: Petr Bambousek / Marine iguanas
3rd place: Rostislav Štefánek / Vegetarians
1st place: Vít Lukáš / Snail in the rain
2nd place: Vít Lukáš / The Circle of Life
3rd place: Radim Hlaváč / Up to the Moon
1st place: Václav Sojka / Hasivka orličí
2nd place: Petr Bambousek / Windy Night
3rd place: Svitlana Mehela / Velvet-legged warbler
1st place: Jiří Soural / Matterhorn
2nd place: Daniel Franc / Ice galaxy
3rd place: Václav Sojka / Landscape of Burnt Forest
1st place: Michal Turek, Seznam Zprávy / Education of birds at the Jinonice Rescue Station
2nd place: Vít Lukáš / Scarecrow
3rd place: Jan Molinský / Rest
1st place: Vít Lukáš / Reversed role 2nd place: Jan Pokluda / King of the Oak 3rd place: Patricie Robenková / Lord of the Forest 1st place: Radek Karko / Back to freedom! 2nd place: Tomáš Grim / Life of Feathered Townsmen 3rd place: Vojtěch Herout / The oldest 1st place: Jaromír Daněk / Pheasant and cranes 2nd place: Jiří Hřebíček / Under the Bridge 3rd place: Tomáš Grim / Emotions 1st place: Tomáš Grim / Dynamic World of Townspeople 2nd place: Pavel Fiala / Mt. Cook and kea in symbiosis 3rd place: Ondřej Prosický / Comfort in the lee 1st place: Jakub Jelinek - Duel 2nd place: Anežka Veselá - Hair from Africa 3rd place: Tereza Hospodářová - Toadstool 1st place: Matyáš Mutina - Lampion 2nd place: Michal Bogár - Bee 3rd place: Šimon Martínek - Jellyfish 1st place: Eliška Panáčková – Blue Flash 2nd place: Kristýna Velnerová – Polar Bear 3rd place: Vojtěch Gregor – Courtship The exhibition will open on 11 May and run until 3 September. Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday from 11.00 to 18.00 and on weekends from 10.00 to 18.00. The basic entrance fee is 100 crowns and the reduced fee is 50 crowns. The Czech Photo Centre Gallery is located 100 metres from the Nové Butovice metro station at Seydlerova 2835/4, Prague 5. The CZECH NATURE PHOTO 2023 competition and exhibition is organised by the Czech Photo Centre
The event is held under the auspices of the Ministry of the Environment
The project is implemented with the financial support of the City of Prague and under the auspices of the City of Prague
And under the auspices of the Prague 13 municipal district General partner: Trigema Partners: Cewe, Ptáček, Laufen, Soliter, Siko, Fomei, Canon, Samsung, Berlitz, Pictoart, Newton Media, Econtest, Prague Zoo, KRNAP, NP ŠUMAVA, Botanical Garden of the Capital City of Prague, Forests of the Capital City of Prague. Prague, f-stop Media partners: Radio Praha, National Geographic, Prima ZOOM, Lidé a Země Contacts and further information: www.czechphoto.org Public relations: Anna Vacková, +420 777 093 690, vackova@czechphoto.org Press release for download in format .PDF Location overview with photos in downloadable format .PDFPRIZE FOR THE BEST PHOTO OF CZECH NATURE:
SERIES:
NATURE IN PRAGUE:
ANIMALS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT:
CZECH PHOTO JUNIOR 2023:
Category younger pupils:
Category older pupils:
Category high school students:
