Surreal flooded forest in winter wins GDT members’ Nature Photographer of the Year 2024

The GDT (German Society for Nature Photography) has announced the 2024 winners of its annual member competition of the GDT Nature Photographer of the Year. The overall winner is Dieter Damschen with his stunning landscape photo of a flooded forest in winter.

The overall winner

Other than the flattering title of the overall winner, Dieter’s photo also won in the category All things flow – Germany’s river landscapes.

“Winter is my favourite time of year and one of my [favorite] motifs is the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Elbe River Landscape,” Dieter. commented

“I often visit this hardwood riparian forest in the foreland of the dyke to take photographs at fixed points with lines of sight that reveal carefully selected compositions. Although I claim to know this location very well and sometimes get the feeling that I have seen and photographed everything here many times, I am regularly surprised by how different a supposedly familiar place can appear. After several years with extremely low water levels, a long awaited winter flood inundated the old oak trees in January 2024. On this particular morning, the trunks and branches of the trees were plastered with snow on one side, thanks to snowfall in combination with strong winds during the previous night. The resulting contrasting lines emphasize the time-worn structures of the mighty trees, creating the special graphic effect of this fleeting moment.”

About the contest

This year, Dieter’s photo was selected as the winner among 481 GDT members from 13 countries who submitted just under 8,000 images. Other than the jury, GDT members were able to vote for ten images in each of seven categories: Birds, Mammals, Other Animals, Plants and Fungi, Landscapes, Nature’s Studio and the Special Category 2024 All things flow – Germany’s river landscapes.

The GDT Nature Photographer of the Year competition is only open to members of the society. On the other hand,the GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is open to all photographers based in Europe.

I leave you now to enjoy the category winners and runner-ups. To check out the full gallery, visit GDT’s website.

Category winners

Runner-ups (second place)

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