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How did you get into photography? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n I grew up in a coastal community in Norway. I\u2019d often go out with a neighbour to tag sea eagles. Looking into the birds\u2019 eyes made me want to photograph them, so I saved up for my first camera. <\/p>\n\n Have you ever lost any photographic gear to wildlife? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n Yes. A polar bear in Svalbard grabbed my camera and sunk it to 140m. It took me a year to retrieve it, and though it was of course broken, I was able to access the memory card with help from data experts who worked with the Norwegian police. <\/p>\n\n You have various home-made camera rigs. Which has been most innovative? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n A system where an eagle transports a tiny camera into the air and takes a flight selfie. <\/p>\n\n And the least effective? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n A radio-controlled camera-boat to take split-level shots of swimming polar bears. After spending months making it, I took it on a four-week trip to the Arctic. No bears showed up, and then the boat started to leak. The whole thing was an epic fail. <\/p>\n\n What\u2019s been your most costly shoot? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n I once came across a humpback whale entangled in a subsea internet cable. It took many of us \u2013 firemen, coastguards \u2013 more than a day to release it. Later, I got a bill for \u00a3150,000 to cover damages to the cable (I didn\u2019t pay it!). <\/p>\n\n Any stand-out wildlife encounters? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n Probably the most unique was when a rare and totally white humpback whale showed up right in front of our boat in heavy fog in the remote Arctic Barents Sea. It breached in front of my camera. <\/p>\n\n Can you share your closest shave? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n A young orca repeatedly came so close to me that I had to push it away with my camera and shout to a friend in a boat to ward it off. It was probably just teasing, but it was a bit worrying… <\/p>\n\n What\u2019s been your most physical shoot? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n Shooting waves in a stormy sea. It was like being beaten up in a washing machine. <\/p>\n\n Audun Rikardsen is a marine biologist and photographer. Visit audunrikardsen.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n Check out highlights from this year\u2019s competition in our online gallery at discoverwildlife.com\/photo-galleries\/gdt<\/a>. Inspired? Why not enter next year? <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 WHO CAN ENTER<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is open to amateur and professional photographers residing within Europe and for GDT members <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/450af7fe-ce95-4bdf-8636-667c80cc5b59.jpg\")
European Wildlife Photographer of the Year <\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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