Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award For Will
We’re delighted to announce that one of Will’s images, taken at Namiri Plains last year, has been highly commended at Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPOTY).
William's awarded image, Romance is Dead
Wildlife Photographer of the Year
With over 60,000 submissions this year, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is recognized as one of the most prestigious and challenging in the industry. From these thousands of entries, only 100 are selected, and William’s image, Romance is Dead, has earned the distinction of being one of this year’s highly commended pieces.
Celebrating original and innovative photography, WPOTY is now in its 60th year. Previous award winners include renowned photographers such as Charlie Hamilton-James, Ami Vitale, and Bertie Gregory, some of the industry’s most influential figures and ongoing sources of inspiration for us at Armstrong Fortescue.
Anderson Kayle, William's guide throughout the shoot
William on Location
The Story of the Image
William’s work typically evokes a sense of calm, as he strives to maintain peaceful interactions with the wild animals he photographs. However, the wildlife does not always get the memo and every so often something occurs that leaves him truly astonished.
In early 2023 William stayed at Namiri Plains, a stunning camp in the Eastern Serengeti and one of our favourites in the region. He and his guide, Anderson Kayle spent eight days following a variety of lions working out which ones were most likely to be amenable to being approached for a low angle image like this.
Also looking for males with a large mane, this narrowed the options to three male lions known to the guides as The Golden Boys, a coalition that favours the fabled rock kopjes around the luxurious tented camp. Of the three males two were mating with separate lioness’, a process William and Anderson knew often creates sensational images.
Namiri Plains, William's luxurious base for his shoot
A Waiting Game
The mating process between a male and female lion can last up to three days, during which they mate frequently and keep to themselves, away from other lions. The interactions between them can be quite dramatic, and this is what William aimed to capture.
“I knew that once they finished mating, the lioness might react in a visceral way, biting or snarling at the male. But this does not happen every time. Often there is barely an acknowledgement, they simply fall back asleep. We sat through hours of this over four days, watching them do very little or flirting occasionally as perfect light and conditions came and went. Many times even if we got the reaction I was after the image did it no justice. There was not enough there to make it ‘the’ shot.”
Patience Pays Off
Finally, on the seventh and penultimate day of Will’s shoot everything came together. There was no way he could have planned for things to have been quite as dramatic as they ended up being, as much as he hoped they might be, he just had to let nature do its thing and trust the shot would come.
After a sedate morning, as mating had slowed between these two we finally witnessed one of the most intense reactions of the three days. She exploded with apparent fury, flies burst from his mane and a look of genuine fear appeared on his face. It wasn’t until I reviewed the image on my computer that evening that I noticed another extraordinary detail—a trail of saliva hanging from the lioness’s jaws.”
Join Will in the Serengeti
Since he first took Romance is Dead William has already been back to Namiri Plains for a follow up shoot and will be back with guests in early 2025. If you would like to join him for a group photography safari or a private trip, please use the form below and he will arrange a time to discuss your possible trip with you.
