British Wildlife Photography Awards 2012

Wildlife and photography seem to go hand in hand, so many people just love photographs of animals. Usually such awards are the preserve of the magnificent animals in far off places so this award is always a pleasure to consider as it is from our own doorsteps.

All the 2012 British Wildlife Photography Awards category winners and selected highly commended images are in these galleries.

The overall winning image by Dr Matt Doggett was his image entitled: “Gannet Jacuzzi”

Here are a couple more to whet your appetite

Fairy tale 1 by Alex Saberi

Beautiful Bluebells by Ian Wade

If you would like to see all of the winners the BWPA site is the place to go

If you just want a taste of the superlative images of wildlife from our shores then the BBC has a brief gallery here

The 2011 British Wildlife Photographer of the Year

As with the International Garden Photographer of the Year ,this competition to find the British Wildlife Photographer of the Year, shows what fantastic talent and skill is out there. The results of this competition are again beautiful and revealing.

” The winning image of a jellyfish was captured by Richard Shucksmith. His photo was taken at Sula Sgeir (meaning Gannet Rock) a small uninhabited Scottish island, 41 miles north of Lewis. The inhospitable area is home to exposed islands sustaining an astounding variety of marine life. The remoteness of these islands, as well as the challenge that comes with visiting them, makes Richard’s incredible photo all the more special. “.…more

2011 Winner: Animal Portraits  Mark Smith

Mystical Mist (Fallow Deer, Dama dama) Surrey, England

2011 Winner: Habitat   Ian Paul Haskell

Hare in Morning Light with Hoar Frost (Brown Hare, Lepus europaeus) Norfolk

Spooked starlings make a hasty exit from a tree in Bayston Hill, Shropshire. David Biggs opportunistically took this photo from his house, and subsequently won the Urban Wildlife category Photograph: David Biggs/British Wildlife Photography Awards

The Young British Wildlife Photographer up to 11 years category was won by Walter Lovell, 8, who again waited patiently for this photo of a frog checking its frogspawn in his garden in Painswick, Gloucestershire Photograph: Walter Lovell/British Wildlife Photography Awards