And the winner is — a kangaroo playing air guitar.
The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards are back for another year, and the grand prize goes to shutterbug Jason Moore for his photo entitled “Air Guitar Roo.”
Moore’s hilarious pic captured the moment a young female Western Grey Kangaroo had a moment to herself where he appeared to be jamming out on an invisible guitar with his eyes closed in bliss.
The shot was taken in the suburbs of Perth, Australia, in a field filled with kangaroos hopping around clusters of flowers.
“I had been out with my camera photographing some waterfowl at a nearby lake. I had been up at sunrise to take advantage of the ‘golden hour’ light, but it turned out to be a disappointing morning on the water,” Moore recounted in a statement.
“This Great Gray Owl spent most of the afternoon posing majestically and looking, well, wise. But for a moment or two after doing some elegant stretching, he/she would slump and give a look of ‘is Monday over yet?'” John Blumenkamp said of his photo. John Blumenkamp / Comedy Wildlife 2023Begun by photographers for photographers, the awards are chosen from thousands of submissions every year.
The picture was chosen from 5,300 entries submitted by 1,842 entrants from 85 countries.
Although Moore had driven past this spot many times, he decided to get out and walk around with his camera on that day in August 2021 as the light hit the field just right.
He claimed that despite their sometimes tough reputation, kangaroos are typically fairly docile and “even a bit boring most of the time.”
This photo showing a turtle with a dragonfly on its head titled “Happy Turtle” was taken by Tzahi Finkelstein won a mention in the competition. Tzahi Finkelstein / Comedy Wildlife 2023“I ended up shooting about 40 or 50 frames of the kangaroos with various content including Mums, Joeys and also some action shots of them bouncing along through the yellow field,” Moore said.
“However, when I saw this roo striking the air guitar pose, it immediately brought a smile to my face, and I knew that I had captured something really special. “
Organizers claim the decision was made in the closest win ever recorded in the competition.
This photo showing a monkey lounging around was taken in the monkey forest in Ubud, Bali by Delphine Casimir and was also awarded a mention by the photography competition. Delphine Casimir / Comedy Wildlife 2023Moore will be awarded a Kenyan Safari courtesy of Alex Walker’s Serian, a camera bag from ThinkTank and a handmade trophy from the Wonder Workshop in Tanzania.
Several other photos were awarded special mentions from the judges.
The competition will reopen for new entries in March 2024.
