Charming "bird marriage" wins GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2023

In their annual member’s competition, the GDT (German Society for Nature Photography) has chosen the GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2023. The overall winner is Silke Hüttche with a charming image humorously titled Scenes of a Marriage.

Every year, the competition GDT Nature Photographer of the Year is exclusively run for the Society’s members only. But there’s also the GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, which is open to all photographers resident in Europe.

This year, 424 GDT members from 13 countries submitted a total of nearly 7,000 images. After a pre-jury procedure, it was the GDT members’ turn to make their choices from ten images in each of the seven categories: Birds, Mammals, Other Animals, Plants & Fungi, Landscapes, Nature’s Studio, and this year’s special category Urban Nature. Other than the overall win, Silke’s image also won in the special category this year.

“I have this habit of constantly looking for birds wherever I am,” the winner commented. “So every time I pass this electricity pole I take a look up for there is always some kind of bird sitting there.”

“As was the case on this somewhat dull day in September 2021 when I glanced up and spotted the kite sitting there on the one end and shortly after a second one arriving to settle on the opposite end. This seemed to get exciting – were the two a pair or rivals? Hoping for some action-filled photography, I took out my camera and waited. Initially my wish was for some kind of interaction between them. But they just seemed to have nothing to say to each other and kept looking in opposite directions. In the end I was fascinated by this scene of perfect symmetry, and luckily both birds remained still for long enough until I had the picture I wanted.”

Take a look at the category winners and runner-ups below, and make sure to visit the contest website for more information and a full gallery.