How does a wildlife photographer strike comedy gold? Know-how, patience — and lots of luck 

Wildlife photographer Jennifer Hadley’s aim is to indicate wild animals “dwelling their lives and being who they’re.” 

Sometimes, meaning capturing a creature’s inherent grace, majesty and ferocity. Other occasions, it means displaying them being downright goofy. 

“For me, it is actually about capturing all of the surprise that these animals carry to our lives and to ask folks to see them, to guard them and to battle for them,” Hadley advised As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

“That’s actually what I am going out to do. And generally, of course, you get some humorous moments.”

Two of the photographer’s photographs are finalists within the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, an annual contest that “makes use of humour as a software to carry audiences in on the broader story about sustainability, and crucially wildlife conservation.”

‘Ungraceful’ penguins

Getting the sort of shot that will get you nominated for a Comedy Wildlife award “might be very difficult,” Hadley mentioned.

“You by no means know when one thing is definitely going to occur. So it’s important to be affected person or await the moment. You additionally must know some animal behaviours and be capable to anticipate one thing taking place,” she mentioned.

“And a lot of occasions, it is simply luck.”

One of her contenders is known as Talk to the fin. It exhibits a gentoo penguin on a Falkland Islands seaside holding up its fin at a Magellanic penguin, as if it is telling the opposite chicken to buzz off.

But in actuality, Hadley mentioned, it is simply being clumsy.

“They’re penguins from two completely different species, however they occupy the identical seaside areas. And they’re truly very comedic little penguins,” she mentioned.

When they’re swimming, they’re extremely sleek. But once they emerge — not a lot.

“And these two had been swimming, and they got here crashing on to the seaside in a very ungraceful means. And because the little penguin on the correct, the gentoo penguin, shook off, he gave his little pal there the fin,” she mentioned.

“I did not even understand I had captured it till I bought it dwelling and regarded on the footage, and then actually noticed his expression and the fin within the air, and simply had a good snort over that.”

Big clumsy kitten 

Her different contest contender captures a equally clumsy moment, from a creature identified for its agility.

Not so cat-like reflexes exhibits a three-month-old lion cub face-planting into the facet of a tree in Tanzania. 

“He was in a tree with one other sibling of his that was sleeping and he clearly wished to get down from the tree. So he walked round a lot and stored harassing his sibling, virtually asking for assist. And, finally, he determined to make the descent,” she mentioned.

“Never in my thoughts did I type of think about that, you recognize, cats could be falling out of timber. So, sure, he simply type of instantly made the transfer to come back out of the tree, and I snapped away. And, certain sufficient, he went tumbling all the best way down.”

But don’t be concerned, Hadley mentioned. The little lion was unscathed — besides, maybe, for a bruised ego.

“He was OK, and he walked away with another cubs,” she mentioned.

The contest runs on-line till Nov. 27, and anybody can vote. Winners can be introduced on Dec. 8.

Every 12 months, the competition companions with a completely different conservation group. This 12 months, it says it is donating 10 per cent of its income to the U.Ok.’s Whitley Fund for Nature.

Hadley says she’s honoured to be included amongst so many wonderful footage that showcase “the laughable facet of wildlife.”

“It simply exhibits you a utterly completely different facet of animals,” she mentioned. “With all of the dangerous information on the earth, I feel that is simply what we have to type of lighten the mood and have a good snort.”