We have a WINNER!!

Our first annual photo contest is over and many thanks to all those who participated.

Our winning shot is by Francine Bazos. She caught this rabbit stealing from her garden and because he really does look remarkably guilty to me I picked this as our winning shot.

And please note: wildlife shooters are always complaining that if they had (insert name of expensive equipment here) they could get all sorts of great images. Francine shot this with a relatively humble Canon S5 IS. The moral is if you want to get something good the most important step you have to take is to get out and shoot.

Congratulations Francine! You go girl!!

Deadline for the Photo Contest Extended!!!

In order to accomodate all you last minute slackers the deadline for our photography contest has been extended by one week exactly. That is March 7th, 2010.

If you want details of the contest look here.

UPDATE: Whoops! Date corrected.

First Annual Toronto Wildlife Pro-Am Photography Contest

Yes, just what you've been waiting for. The First Annual Toronto Wildlife Pro-Am Photography Contest is here at last.

Rules: Any person, young or old, professional photographer or amateur is eligible to enter. Photographs can depict any sort of wildlife including animals, insects and even plants in a non-domesticated setting somewhere in or around anything that could remotely be described as 'Toronto'. Participants should include a brief description of each image, equipment used and the location. There is no entry fee. Participants may enter as many images as they like. Deadline for entries is February 28, 2010, at 11:59 PM EST. Entries should be no larger than 300 kb and sent to robert(at) robertrafton(dot) com. Entries larger than 300kb will be deleted.

Prizes: First Prize winner will receive a one-year subscription to the Toronto Wildlife blog, including unlimited page views. The winning image will be displayed on Toronto Wildlife and the Winner will also receive an Official Congratulatory E-mail along with bragging rights to tell everyone they know that they've won the First Annual Toronto Wildlife Pro-Am Photography Contest, which (let's be honest) is pretty cool. Additional entries may be awarded Honourable Mention solely at the discretion of the judges. Honourable Mention winners will also receive a congratulatory email, but it will be slightly shorter than the one the winner gets.

Disclaimers: All decisions by the judges are final. Neither Toronto Wildlife, its officers, owners or shareholders shall be deemed liable for any material lost in transmission or in any other way so please don't sent the only copy of an image. All participants agree that their entries can and may be displayed on Toronto Wildlife with attribution, and waive any rights to claim payment for the display of such images. Submitting photographers retain all other copyright to their images.

And that's it. Go out and shoot!