Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024: Mammal Connections

Welcome to Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024, where every click of the camera resonates with the call to preserve and cherish the natural world. This year, our theme is “Mammal Connections,” celebrating this intricate web of relationships that mammals share with us, with each other and with the landscapes around them.

Winner of Mammal Photographer of the Year 2023 – Stuart Pevy’s “Surrey Badger with apple.”

The Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024 competition represents and celebrates the profound impact that wildlife photography can have on inspiring vital conservation efforts. As our lens captures the intricate beauty of British mammals – from the industrious beaver to the majestic deer, the playful otter, and the delicate harvest mouse – it unveils a world where every mammal is more than just a subject. Our Mammals are intricately woven into the fabric of their landscape, forming connections with the broader canvas of nature. By providing a larger platform for these stunning shots, this competition empowers photographers to amplify the narrative of these connections, compelling us all to appreciate, understand, and ultimately safeguard the rich diversity of life that surrounds us. In each photograph lies the potential to stir emotions, to cultivate empathy, and to spark a collective commitment to protect the precious ecosystems in which these mammals thrive.

Submit your entries into our online submission form before 22nd March, 2024 and stand the chance to be Mammal Society’s next Mammal Photographer of the Year! For our young photographers, enter the Young Mammal Photographer of the Year competition using this submission form!

Capturing the Beauty of Mammal Connections

We are looking for photos you have captured from the start of 2023 of mammals in the British Isles and Ireland that encapsulates ‘Mammal Connections’. Whether it’s the tender moments between parent and offspring, the symbiotic relationships in ecosystems, or the connections mammals share with their habitats – we want to see your creative interpretations!

Some of you may be completely new to taking wildlife photographs and may have simply captured a fleeting moment on your phone. We would love to see all of these images. Points will be awarded for simplicity, naturalness, quirkiness, ingenuity and speed as well as beauty.

Entries will be judged by our panel and highly commended photographs will be exhibited at the opening of the Mammal Society Spring Conference, which will be held next in April 2024. Please note that it is likely that only photographs taken with a camera will be included in the exhibition.

How to Enter

We are taking submissions for the Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024 until 22 March 2024. Voting will begin once submissions close and be open until 1 April 2024.

Highly Commended in MPOY2023 – “Stoat” by Deborah Clarke

Please submit your photographs using our online submission form. If you’re a young photographer, you can enter the Young Mammal Photographer of the Year competition using this online form! The deadline for all submissions is March 22, 2024, so don’t miss the opportunity to showcase your mammal photography skills!

Before submitting, or taking your photos, please spend some time to read the ethical wildlife photography guidelines and the Terms & Conditions below.

Ethical photography principles:

Wildlife photography has the power to inspire others to protect wildlife and make positive changes to the environment, but unethical practices can cause harm

Wildlife comes before photography. Do not destroy or alter habitat in pursuit of a photo – including traveling to and from a site
Do not disturb or distract wildlife to get its attention or to encourage certain behaviour. You could prevent an animal from foraging, hunting or taking cover. Avoid flash photography or the intrusive / dangerous use of drones. Do not set traps for the purposes of photography.
Do your research. Don’t go into a habitat or approach wildlife without sufficient knowledge of how to act sensitively and responsibly.
– Be aware of special reasons for caution or care – eg breeding season
– Know the signs of stress in your subject species
– Check for any plant/tree/animal diseases that you must be careful not to spread.
– Consider any legal protections that apply to species you are photographing (eg dormice / bats)
Follow ethical guidelines if putting food out for animals. Consider their health and the way you may influence their natural and safe behaviour. No live bait.
Avoid supporting unethical practice. Photos of animals in captivity are not applicable for MPOTY, but consider also if a photo tour or ‘staged’ photo opportunity is ethical and sustainable.
Caption accurately and honestly. Misleading information about the circumstances of a photo can lead to misinformation about the behaviour or location of a species, or lead to inappropriate practice by other photographers seeking to learn from your technique. Likewise, the use of digital manipulation to present a false impression of wildlife location or behaviour is unacceptable.
Consider what you share. Some species may be the target of persecution, harassment or illegal hunting, and revealing the precise location could put them at risk. Avoid giving away precise locations in the caption or photograph where doing so could put wildlife at risk.

Terms and Conditions:

Please ensure that your entries adhere to the competition guidelines outlined below and on the submission page.

You can submit up to 5 photos of British wild mammals in JPEG format, up to 5MB, telling us where the photo was taken, with any story that goes with it. Please keep large-resolution copies of your photos, in case your entry is placed, for promotional and printing purposes. Please make sure that you include your name in the image filename so that we can credit you accordingly.
1 or more of your 5 entries may have been taken on a mobile phone. Please indicate which of your images have been taken using a mobile phone.
Submissions for the mobile phone photo category must have been taken directly with the mobile phone camera. If images have been captured on a mobile phone through a digiscope attachment (spotting scope with mobile attachment) this counts as a camera photograph.
1 or more of your entries may be taken via a wildlife camera trap. The submitting photographer must be responsible for installing the camera. Stills from wildlife camera video are submissible but will be judged on the same quality standards as photos.
Please tell us your full name, age (if 18 or under), the category you are entering (ie camera or mobile phone), location and contact details with your submissions.
Mammals must be photographed in the wild within the British Isles (including the UK & Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Scottish Islands, and the Isle of Man).
All photographs must have been taken with respect for the ethical photography principles outlined above. If we suspect that a breach of these conditions has taken place, resulting in risk, harm or disturbance to wildlife or habitat, and cannot satisfactorily resolve this with the owner of the photograph, the image will be disqualified.
We reserve the right not to accept entries where the judges have concerns that taking the photograph may have caused undue disturbance. To avoid a mistaken judgement of unethical practice, entrants should describe their approach and make special reference to measures they put in place to avoid harm or disturbance where photographs concern juvenile animals, mothers and offspring, or seals at haul-out sites.
Entries are not restricted to those living within the UK; however, the mammals must be photographed in the wild, within the British Isles.
By entering your image, you agree to grant the Mammal Society the non-exclusive right to publish, feature, reproduce and use it for any purpose at any time in any of its publications, websites and associated media outlets including adverts, cards, calendars, press releases, social media, our Mammal News magazine etc in existence now or later invented. The photo will be credited with the photographer’s name wherever possible.
Each image can only be entered once, must have been taken no earlier than 01-01-2023 and must be your own original work. You must be the sole author and owner of the copyright of all images entered. The Mammal Society does not accept any liability for the publication of unlawfully reproduced images.
Computer-generated or computer-altered images will not be accepted, including black and white images. Digital alteration of exposure, sharpness and frame (cropping) is permitted, but other forms of digital enhancement — which could not be achieved through alterations of settings on a manual camera — are not allowed. Artwork and illustrations will not be accepted. Works that have been submitted to other competitions will be accepted.
Prizes are as stated; no alternative can be offered. Reasonable efforts will be made to contact winners. Prizes unclaimed within a reasonable time frame will be reallocated. The judges’ decision is final. The competition may be modified or withdrawn at any time.
In the event of a prize being withdrawn, an alternative prize of equal value will be offered.

Categories, Prizes and Sponsors

The winning images in the category will be well-balanced, dynamic and striking photos that catch the eye while capturing the essence of the connections mammals have to their landscapes.

Highly Commended MPOY2023 – “Family of Otters” by Owen Mortimer

First Place:

The grand winner will receive prestigious recognition as the Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024 and an incredible prize sponsored by Wildcare – a state-of-the-art trail camera to enhance your wildlife photography experience.

Runner-Up:

Our runner-up will be awarded special acknowledgment and a fantastic prize to fuel their passion for mammal photography. Stay tuned for the announcement of the runner-up award, and keep an eye on this page for updates.

Best Mobile Photo:

We believe that great photography is accessible to all. To prove it, we’re recognizing the best photo taken on a mobile camera. Showcase your talent without the need for expensive equipment! The prize for the Best Mobile Photo award will be revealed at a later date, so be sure to check back for the exciting announcement.

Best Story/Series:

A picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes you may need more than one image to tell a story. Stay tuned for the announcement of the Best Story/Series award.

One or more of your submissions can be a photo series/story of up to 5 images.

Young Mammal Photographer (Under 18):

The youth category aims to encourage the next generation of wildlife enthusiasts. Young photographers (under 18) are invited to share their unique perspectives on “Mammal Connections” and stand a chance to win an exciting prize. Stay tuned for the announcement of the Youth Photo award, and keep an eye on this page for updates.

Coming soon: The Announcement of our Mammal Photographer of the Year panel of judges!

Keep an eye on this page to be the first to hear about our 2024 judges!

Get Involved!

Join us in celebrating the diversity and interconnectedness of mammals. Follow the competition on social media using the hashtag #MPOY2024, and stay tuned for updates and highlights.

For inquiries, please contact us at info@themammalsociety.org.

Thank you for being a part of the Mammal Society’s Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024 competition. We can’t wait to see the world of mammal connections through your lens!

Best of luck!