Hilarious, Mesmerizing Images as "Grab life by the....!" Wins the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

I challenge you to look at these incredible images and not be blown away and wonderfully amused at the same time. The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have been run and won for 2019 and there were some outstanding entries that deserve your attention and your laughter.

Founded by photographer and conservationist Paul Joynson-Hicks, the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards is an annual competition that showcases some of the funniest wildlife images from around the world. This year's winner was Sarah Skinner, a UK based photographer who runs tours and safaris to various parts of Africa as well as India. Her image, "Grab life by the....!" (pictured below) is perfectly titled and captures the spirit in which this competition is run.

The awards were first initiated as an opportunity to have a photography competition that was light hearted, upbeat, and mainly about wildlife doing funny things. It has run for four years now and has further evolved and become a way of highlighting and promoting the need for conservation and a more eco-friendly approach to life. Judges include former Fuji Photographer of the Year award winner, Tom Sullam. 

When you look through the award winning images, you get an appreciation not only for the quality of the images but also for the dedication that these photographers put into their craft. If you've ever tried to shoot wildlife, or even your pet dog at home (or even your raving lunatic kids for that matter!), you'll know exactly how hard it is to get everything to come together perfectly in terms of light, composition, expressions, and color, among many other things. I think one of the finalists, Tom Mangelsen (whose "Laid Back" image is the lead for this article), sums it up best when he says "it's just being out there and enjoying it. If you see something great, that's better. If you see something great and get a picture of it, that's better yet. If you see something great and a picture of it you can actually print and hang in your gallery that's even better yet." Wildlife photography takes a lot of skill and patience and awareness of your surroundings. So sit back, take a look at these exquisite images and be entertained, amazed, and humbled all at the same time. Here's a sneak peek below of a coupe of my favorites. The first is from Harry Walker, and the second, from Tilakraj Nagaraj.

And if you want to know more about the awards or the work the organizers are doing for conservation, then be sure to check out their website from the links provided here. And if you have some humorous wildlife images of your own you'd like to share with Fstoppers, please post them below. 

All images used with permission of Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards