As has been the case for ten years, this year too SWAROVSKI OPTIK invited fans of digiscoping to participate in the “Digiscoper of the Year” competition. To celebrate this anniversary, in addition to the four already existing categories, in 2015 the special section “Animal Antics” was introduced which collected funny images about animals. With the spectacular shot of a white kite in action this year the overall winner of the “Digiscoper of the Year” competition was the Italian Claudio Montuori. His photo was considered the best by a jury made up of international experts from birdwatching e digiscoping, photographers and mere spectators.
This is the tenth year that, through the competition "Digiscoper of the Year”, SWAROVSKI OPTIK provides a platform for digiscoping photos to be shared with a wide audience and submitted to an expert jury for the awarding of prizes. The competition, chaired by a jury of highly prestigious experts, is divided into four defined thematic sections, to which a special category is added, and offers high-quality prizes to attract a large number of participants. More than 2.200 people registered on the website www.digiscoperoftheyear.com and more than 1.500 photographs were submitted.
The shots could be placed in one of four categories: “Movement and action”, “Portrait and macro”, “Mammals” and “Video”, or in the special category “Animal Antics”. The winning photo in each category was selected by a separate jury of experts. The overall winner was chosen from among the winners of the four different categories.
The absolute winner of the “Digiscoper of the Year 2015” competition, as well as leader of the “Movement and action” section, is Claudio Montuori. The Italian impressed everyone, jury of experts and the general public, thanks to the breathtaking shot of a white kite (Elanus caeruleus) in flight with prey. What particularly struck everyone was the photographer's ability to capture a bird flying right in the direction of the lens, which proved his great technical skills.
Claudio Montuori has been awarded a SWAROVSKI OPTIK digiscoping set equipped with ATX / STX spotting scope (optional) with TLS APO adapter, balanced base and tripod complete with head.
The winner of the “Portrait and macro” category is the Austrian Gudrun Kaufmann with a photo of an American anhinga (Anhinga anhinga). In the “Mammals” section, the Spanish Quique Marcelo won, who impressed the jury with the portrait of an oak tree (Eliomys quercinus) entitled “More difficult still”. The German Jürgen Bergmann - already overall winner in 2014 - took first place in the “Video” category.
The three category winners will each be awarded a SWAROVSKI OPTIK EL 32 binoculars. To celebrate the XNUMXth anniversary of the contest, the special “Animal Antics” section was also introduced this year. The winner of this category is the British Gary Welsby, who prevailed over the other participants thanks to a shot depicting two gray crows (Corvux cornix) and entitled “Hide and seek”. The children of the “OptikS Wichtelwald”, SWAROVSKI OPTIK's company kindergarten based in Absam, decreed the number one in this special section, to which a backpack full of surprises goes.
Once again, the “Digiscoper of the Year 2015” award was awarded by combining the points of the international jury of experts with the votes of visitors who registered on the website www.digiscoperoftheyear.com. The selection criteria applied by the jury were the adherence to the theme of the competition, the aesthetic quality of the photographs and their sharpness. The best digiscoping works (15 photos and 5 videos) presented in each category were published by SWAROVSKI OPTIK on the website www.digiscoperoftheyear.com.
During the 4-month duration of the competition, visitors to the Facebook page of SWAROVSKI OPTIK were able to choose three favorite digiscoping photos and video each month, whose respective authors were awarded a high quality SWAROVSKI OPTIK sweatshirt or a PA-i5 or PA-i6 adapter for iPhone® * 5 / 5s or iPhone® * 6.
SWAROVSKI OPTIK congratulates all the winners of the contest!
