'Wild' Wolf Too Tame! - Wildlife Photographer of the Year Disqualified

<p><em>Photographers are so good with photoshop you cant believe half of what you see.</em></p>

<p>In this competition you are required to submit original RAW files, as well as your finished image, so that the judges can see how far you have manipulated the image.</p>

<p>I am sure the "problem" with the image was that once it had been declared the winner, it received a lot more scrutiny by everybody. And the rest is now history.</p>

<p>And now the internet wise guys are having their crack at the photo, LOL! Check out the "improved" version.<br>

<a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/wildlife-winning-photo-fake.php">http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/wildlife-winning-photo-fake.php</a></p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

 

<p>Gary Anthes: An interview with one of the judges, linked to above, clearly stated "There was a lot of correspondence with him..." It also stated that he is sticking to his guns and claiming the wolf is wild.</p>

<p>He probably also has an attorney who is advising him to keep quiet about all of this.</p>

<p>Shouldn't this be a "photograph" of the year competition and not a "photographer" of the year competition. The winner was based on only one photo, and anyone can get lucky and get "the shot," but for it to be a photographer of the year competition I think they should have shown an entire portfolio to prove they can get "the shot" over and over and that they are a truly great photographer and not just a hack that got a lucky photograph.</p>

<p>"Does everyone here think the shot is great?" No, it's boring, the judges should be fined for picking it in the first place.</p>

<p>The shot might not be all that great if, again, IF it is a "designed" image where a trained wolf was baited and jumped over the fence many times so that the photographer could capture the jump over and over until he got a perfect image.</p>

<p>"Three Wolves Jumping" has potential for POW.</p>

<p>I always thought this picture was a set up, although I thought it was a stuffed wolf proped up to look like it was leaping over a, too good looking to be true, rustic gate.<br>

If anyone on the panel of judges really were wildlife/photography experts, including a 'wolf expert', why did no one twig that this 'fairy tale' image might be all it seemed? This will not do their (the judges) credibility any good.<br>

If they had any doubts they should have awarded the top prize to someone else.</p>

<p>Its a shame this had to happen, competition at the highest level of nature and wildlife photography is extremely tight, but that does not warrant desperate measures like this. In my opinion he should have done what many others do, wait for lengthy hours in hiding around the natural habitat of the sought after wolf until he got that lucky break. If he didn't get the shot he wanted just keep trying, there will be other contests.</p>

<p>The two photos are clearly not two shots of the same jump taken with different cameras. The most obvious difference to me is the position and angle of the front paws. The lighting is different, demonstrated by the shadow line on the back part of the body. Also the the angle of the body is different, and it appears that in the winning photo the animal is further over the fence.<br /> <br /> I agree with those that say the picture looks unnatural, and that should have piqued the judge's curiosity and caused them to not take it at face value.<br /> I also agree that it just seems odd, and not what a wolf would be likely to do, with him more likely to crawl through the gate or jump up on the wall and then down. Animals are less inclined to jump over things than to jump onto and then off something else if they can. It uses less energy. I suppose if the wolf were in hot pursuit of something it might do what the picture shows, but otherwise, I think not. Even if he were in pursuit of something, I think he would be more likely to jump on to the wall, using the height and traction to his advantage to recover lost momentum.<br /> <br /> Even though the picture looks dark, I doubt that it was really that dark. Given the abundant color the amount of actual light in the sky can be estimated. Flash with an open shutter was probably not used.<br /> I think that, coupled with a typical wolf's night vision would have enabled him to see well enough to choose his path freely.</p>

<p>Quoting Bob Adkins: "Because, according to Wolf experts, Wolves don't leap gates like that when they can easily crawl through"<br>

Yes that's generally true. A friend of ours in Canada raises champion sled dogs. He has a 3' tall fence around his kennel perimiter with his sled dogs staked out on chains inside. We asked him why so low of a fence since most sled dogs could easily jump over a 3' tall fence. He said it's not so the dogs can't get out, it's so the wolves won't get in to the dogs area. He said the wolves won't jump over or cross a 3' fence. And that worked for him. He lives in prime wolf area up by Ely, MN and is a well known musher.<br>

When I first saw the photo my first though was that it was a wolf mount and not a real wolf at all. The wolf looked to fake. After all this, now I'm back to wondering if he really did hang a wolf mount for the shot? It would be interesting to find out for real.<br>

-Julie</p>

<p>I agree with the Derek the shot is very good, despite all the "I knew it was fake" wise after-the-event" comments. The image <em>is </em>clearly post processed (manipulated), but then a photographer should be able to do that and I don't think the competition disallows that, particularly as any RAW image needs it to look good.</p>

<p>As others have said though his mistake was that he lied and said it was a wild wolf when it probably isn't. Do doubt he never expected to win. I can see that the rules are not there to be broken in this case.</p>

<p>Last year I attended a masterclass given by Mr. Rodriguez. He showed that picture of the wolf. My first reaction was "what a big picture" but soon after I thought that a wolf does not jump the fence when he could go under and, on the other hand, the wolf looks too "domestic". For anyone who has seen semi-wild wolves, this one is a "real dog", with the fur very well treated. The wolves of Portugal and Spain are rare, with few prey, hungry and this is reflected in their hair and physical condition.<br />That said, I think this is a good shot, almost certainly is not a wild wolf and the work of Mr. Rodriguez is very good, though, but dont deserve the prize, because (if) he did lie...</p>