Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022 – finalists

By Paul McGuinness

Published: Thursday, 20 October 2022 at 12:00 am

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards celebrates those lighter and funnier sides of wildlife photography. Now in its eighth year, the competition organisers have released the finalists for 2022.

About the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards was co-founded in 2015 by professional photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks MBE and Tom Sullam, who wanted to create a competition that focused on the lighter, humorous side of wildlife photography but also had an important role in promoting wildlife conservation at its heart.

Every year the competition supports a sustainable conservation organisation, and in 2022, they are working with Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) a UK charity that supports conservation leaders working in their home countries across the Global South. Over 29 years it has channelled £20 million to more than 200 conservationists in 80 countries.

“With so much going on in the world, we could all use a bumper dose of fun and laughter and this year’s finalists have definitely delivered that!” says Tom Sullam. “When you see these amazing photographs like the one of an elephant seal, trying to use his neighbour’s head as pillow (and we’ve all been there) or a wallaby at sunset, seemingly about to launch another wallaby into space, it makes you smile and wonder at the incredible animals that are on this earth with us, and we love that about the competition”

Voting is now open for members of the public to choose their favourite shot in the Affinity Photo People’s Choice Award. Votes can be cast at www.comedywildlifephoto.com until 27 November 2022. And if you vote, you could be in with the chance of winning a cash prize of £500.

The Overall Winner, Category and Highly Commended Winners are set to be announced on 8th December.

More from the Comedy Wildlife Awards:

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Jennifer Hadley, USA. This was shot on the Falkland Islands. These two gentoo penguins were hanging out on the beach when one shook himself off and gave his mate the snub. © Jennifer Hadley/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.
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Alex Pansier, Netherlands, A red squirrel jumps during a rainstorm, so you can see the drops flying around. © Alex Pansier/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

 

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Paul Eijkemans, Netherlands. This picture of a Picasso Triggerfish was taken in Marsa Shagra, Egypt. The fish just vomited the coral residues that it picked up while nibbling on the coral. © Paul Eijkemans/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Torie Hilley, USA. Most bear cubs do cub-like things. Like, follow mom around, nurse, and be generally cute. But this cub took it to another level of cuteness. She found an eagle feather and started to play with it for a good 10 minutes. Cuteness overload! © Torie Hilley/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

 

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John Chaney, USA. This salmon decide to punch the bear in the face rather than be lunch. © John Chaney/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Ahmed Alahmed, Saudi Arabia. She calls her children, and the picture shows that she is laughing at those in front of her. © Ahmed Alahmed/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Martin Grace, UK. Two King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) at Volunteer Point in the Falklands. The right-hand bird may have an inscrutable expression but it must be wondering where its mate’s head has gone. © Martin Grace/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.
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Corinne Kozok, UK. The Guillemots were arriving with fish for their young and seemed to just dive into the middle of the horde of young ones. © Corinne Kozok/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Valtteri Mulkahainen, Finland. Photographed in the Finnish taiga in the town of Martinselkonen. This is the centre of Finland. © Valtteri Mulkahainen/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Lukas Zeman, Czech Republic. A little owl hides in the chimney of a collapsed house in Bulgaria. © Lukas Zeman/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Lee Zhengxing, China. We encountered this little squirrel when climbed mountain in June. When noticed our approaching, instead of escaping right away, he just kept standing on the edge of cliff and overlooked into the distance, then turned around to staring at us as if we had interrupted his meditation. © Lee Zhengxing/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Dave Shaffer, USA. This little guy had a blast playing with a stick. I also had a very good time watching him. © Dave Shaffer/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Sophie Hart, UK. A baby long-tailed macaque clings on to its weary mother. © Sophie Hart/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Alex Cooper, UK. Two black-headed gulls squabbling over territory during the breeding season, at RSPB Minsmere, Suffolk. © Alex Cooper/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Tímea Ambrus, Hungary. The screech owl chose to jump instead of flying. He was a bit lazy. © Tímea Ambrus/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Jean-Jacques Alcalay-Marcon, France. Hippo yawning next to a heron standing on the back of another hippo. © Jean-Jacques Alcalay-Marcon/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven, USA. Is this bull moose smiling… or getting ready to attack? © Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Shuli Greenstein, Israel. I was told that I can find a lot of little owls in the Judean Lowlands in Israel. So, I went on a journey early in the morning and really, I found a lot of little owls standing on the ground, on stones, near the nest and on tree branches. Suddenly, my eyes were caught by two fledgelings that were playing with each other on the ground. © Shuli Greenstein/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

 

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Lincoln Macgregor, Australia. When this Southern Cassowary sat confidently down on a picnic blanket, it scared all of the picnickers away and start eating up the fish and chips that were laid out before it. © Lincoln Macgregor/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Paolo Mignosa, Italy. The three cubs seem to form a ‘Kerberos’, the three-headed dog of Greek mythology. © Paolo Mignosa/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Mark Schocken, USA. I was going to see and photograph this eastern screech owl nest in a local park in Florida. One morning, a few days before the two owlets fledged, one owlet tried to squeeze into the nest hole with Mom, maybe to see the outside world for the first time. © Mark Schocken/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.
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Bojan Bencic, Croatia. The swan was in the middle of a fight with another swan, chasing him around on a frozen lake. The photo was taken in Maksimir Park, Zagreb, Croatia. © Bojan Bencic/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Arshdeep Singh, India. A few hundred miles away we went to explore wildlife of a small town named ‘Bikaner’. It was after almost a year I travelled because of covid. We hired a guide to explore places around. During last day of our trip we came across a pipe in a city where we spotted an owlet. I have earlier clicked owls in a pipe before so I was sure that I wasn’t mistake. © Arshdeep Singh/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Andrew Peacock, USA. These elephant seal weaners were practising their jousting skills for many minutes before they collapsed in exhaustion. One looks to be resting far more comfortably than the other! © Andrew Peacock/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

 

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Ryan Sims, USA. A duckling walking/waddling across a turtle covered log at the Juanita wetlands, the duckling fell off after a few turtle crossings, it was cute. © Ryan Sims/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Saverio Gatto, Italy. Lappet-faced Vultures in display. © Saverio Gatto/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Valtteri Mulkahainen, Finland. Photographed in taiga Finland, in the town of Martinselkonen. © Valtteri Mulkahainen/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Emmanuel Do Linh San, South Africa. I was following a group of meerkats on foot in the Kalahari Trails Game Reserve, in South Africa. Most individuals, including adults, were in a playful mood.  © Emmanuel Do Linh San/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Thomas Vijayan, Canada. This chick has grown old enough to take to the seas and fish for their own food. © Thomas Vijayan/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Vince Burton, UK.  A zebra does a great impression of the 80’s children’s game Buck-a-roo. It also looks like its been wind-powered! © Vince Burton/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Ahmed Alahmed, Saudi Arabia. Monkeys of the city of Abha, where they gather and steal food from people in various ways. © Ahmed Alahmed/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Jennifer Hadley, USA. This 3-month-old cub and his sibling were in a tree. It was probably his first time in a tree and his descent didn’t go so well. He was just fine though after landing on the ground. He got up and ran off with some other cubs. © Jennifer Hadley/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Jagdeep Rajput, India. Actually this is Indian Saras Crane attacking a bluebull from behind, the bull happened to venture close to Saras’s nest, where in, it had laid a single egg. The Saras Crane, which is tallest flying bird in the world, opened its huge wings and attacked the bull from behind, driving the bull away from the nest. © Jagdeep Rajput/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Federica Vinci, Italy. Walking near a Cambodian temple where groups of wild monkeys lived, I came across this scene: a wild monkey in total relax, while its friend was taking care of it. © Federica Vinci/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Arthur Telle Thiemann, Spain. A couple of triggerfish looking into the camera, captured at the Azores. Even though they may look funny, these fish can be quite aggressive. In this case they didn’t attempt to bite me, but the domeport of my camera housing ended up with some scratches. © Arthur Telle Thiemann/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Miroslav Srb, Czech Republic. I photographed raccoon on a Florida beach, where I fed him shrimps. Then he thanked me like that. © Miroslav Srb/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Kevin Lohman, USA. An American Red Fox casually walked up to the edge of the woods and sat down, then turned around and gave a wink. Moments later, this sly fox disappeared into the trees. © Kevin Lohman/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Alison Buttigieg, Finland. I spent a whole morning with this lion pride. One of the lionesses made some funny facial expressions after yawning, luckily for me she looked straight into the camera for a moment and I caught this ‘fake smile’. © Alison Buttigieg/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Andy Evans, UK. After hearing Borneo’s borders would reopen again in April 2022 I couldn’t wait to visit and photograph some of the weird and wonderful wildlife on the island. After 2 years with no tourists it seemed like the wildlife was just as shocked to see me as I was to see them. This young proboscis monkey watched in amazement as I cruised by on the Kinabatangan river. © Andy Evans/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.

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Michael Eastwell, UK. Apart from its beauty, Cape Hillsborough is renowned for its resident kangaroos and wallabies. I visited the area for three consecutive sunrises, but it was on my final morning that I captured this beautiful spectacle, two wallabies playing/fighting on the beach as the sun burst through the surrounding clouds. © Michael Eastwell/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2022.