The British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) celebrates the wealth and diversity of Britain's natural history, and showcase the talents of photographers practicing in the UK. The competition aims to encourage discovery, exploration, conservation and enjoyment of our natural heritage, whilst also raising awareness about British diversity, species and habitats.
Photographers can enter up to 40 images across all of the categories, under different fees (young photographers can enter up to 6 images for free). Videos can also be entered into the Wildlife in HD Video category at £10 per clip (maximum of five clips).
The winning images receive prizes, with the overall winner receiving £5,000. Winning and commended entrants have their work showcased in a national touring exhibition and in a book.
The 2019 BWPA is open for entries until Saturday 6 April 2019.
BBC Wildlife Magazine's editor Sheena Harvey says:
The entries for the 2018 BWPA presented the usual dilemma for the panel of judges, of which I'm one. Choosing from a wide selection of creative wildlife images, taken by photographers from all walks of life and all age groups, was a pleasure but also a challenge. How to single out just one per category from so many images that demonstrated such a high skill?
As in previous years, BBC Wildlife Magazine sponsored the Animal Portraits category, and this year the winner gives us a classic new of one of the UK's largest mammals. This is where the competition excels in getting the viewer up-close to an animal that we usually only glimpse as it scuttles away from our car headlines.
The main category winners are all included in this gallery for you to enjoy. Look out for the travelling exhibition coming to a venue near you at some point in 2019, to see many of the shortlisted images as well.
To view the images as a slideshow, click on the arrows in the top right hand corner of the photos below.
