Sometimes you need a little silliness in your life and the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards are back just in time with a new batch of amusing finalists to brighten your day.
Entering its 3rd year, the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards (CWPA) were founded by photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam who wished to spotlight wildlife conservation efforts while adding some humor to wildlife photography.
“Conservation was always at the heart of the competition along with the fact that people seemed to enjoy images of animals doing entertaining things,” Sullam said. “But essentially living in a country that has some of the best wildlife in the world – Tanzania – and seeing how destructive human actions can be to this wildlife, made us want to do our little bit to help.”
This year had more than 3,500 entries from 86 countries. The finalists have been narrowed down to 40. Joynson-Hicks and Sullam will be judging along with wildlife TV presenter Kate Humble, wildlife expert Will Travers, actor and comedian Hugh Dennis, wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas and the Telegraph’s online travel editor Oliver Smith.
The judges will be looking for a mixture of quality photography along with hilarity.
“The images are shortlisted by how funny they are and the technical quality of their photograph, subsequently the final 40 are judged purely on their humor and content.”
The overall winner will receive an all expenses paid one week photography led safari with Alex Walker’s Serian in Kenya for two. The winner will be announced on Dec. 14.
Aside from the competition, CWPA is also launching a book, Wild and Crazy: Photos from the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, which can be purchased on Amazon. According to Sullam, 10 percent of all book sales go to the Born Free Foundation, which works to save and protect species in the wild.
“(We’re) raising awareness through photography, getting people involved and using humor as a positive reinforcement of the good things, rather than focusing on the negative imagery that has historically been used,” Sullam said.
Here are just some of the finalists below. Click here all the 2017 finalists.
Say cheese!Photo: Andrea Zampatti/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
Yuuuu crank that soulja boy!Photo: Andrey Giljov/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
Moms hate backseat drivers.Photo: Daisy Gilardini/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
Talk about a hole in one. Photo: Douglas Croft/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
Dude, you need a Tic Tac. Photo: George Cathcart/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
I mustache you a question…Photo: Olivier Colle/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
Can I get a hallelujah?Photo: Penny Palmer/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
Whoopsie-daisy!Photo: Tibor Kercz/The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
