The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition opens at the Royal Ontario Museum tomorrow, however, members were given a sneak preview today so I went along to check it out. (There’s also a preview tomorrow from 10am-12pm before it opens to the general public, if anyone is interested.)

I’d seen one year’s entries in the Natural History Museum in London a few years ago so was very keen to check this out, also considering what I’ve been doing for the past seven years (namely, taking photos of zoo animals).

This year’s entries did not disappoint. There were 100 images displaying the winner, runner-up and commended of each section, including cold-blooded animals (interesting to note they use the popular term rather than the scientific “ectomorphic”), mammals, marine animals, landscapes, botanical and young photographers.

So many times, while standing in front of a particularly awe-inspiring shot, I had a rush go up my spine. My particular favourites were of a frontal shot of a dugong and an eerie shot of two elephants playing in the sand amongst dead trees (a black-and-white image) but they were all so wonderful.

Not surprising when there were 43,000 entries for this year.

Out of the 100 images, only one was taken with a camera that wasn’t a Nikon or a Canon (it was an Olympus). Nikon was more prevalent but Canon wasn’t far behind. A couple of the images were even taken with the same make and model that I have now (or the one I used at the zoo).

I also took note of some of the settings they’d used. Shutter speeds were quite high, f-stop numbers low and ISO was high too. Not surprising considering that most subjects were moving, or capable of moving, quickly. Seeing the images I was certainly inspired to make more of an effort with my own photographer (a trip to bear country anyone?).

From the amazing thrill of seeing truly wonderful images, going into the last room to see the final few was a hard crash down to earth as these were more the conversation type photos, aided by the messages underneath.

There were two portfolios of photojournalists’ work: one was the ivory trade, the other the damming of the Amazon river (and subsequent deforestation) in Brazil.

The ivory one was particularly hard to take. You see a lot of dead elephants, including one park ranger hacking out the ivory tusk of an elephant that had been poached the night before. They were removing the tusks so the poachers wouldn’t get them. The ivory is turned into ornaments and reliquary, beautiful in their own right, but still shocking for where they’ve come from.

Other images nearby were also of the impact we’re having on the environment. The overhead shot of the Alberta tar mines was just horrifying.

While I found the end quite hard to take and a bit demoralising, I wouldn’t want those images not to be there.

I think the exhibition is one that should travel more and be seen by more people. Apparently the exhibition is now going to be coming to the ROM in Toronto every year after it’s finished at the Natural History Museum.

It would be wonderful to see it displayed in zoos and museums around the world because it definitely deserves to be seen by more people. Hopefully, then more people will take action to protect what is shown.

To take a look at the images from the comfort of your own home, visit the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year award webpage.