‘Eye for the Wild’ photography contest launches

Calgary Wildlife wants to reward those amateur photographers who often wait hours for the perfect shot, with its Eye for the Wild contest.

The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (Calgary Wildlife) is launching its seventh annual Eye for the Wild photography contest for amateur photographers.

Executive director Beki Hunt said the organization typically receive close to 150 submissions. She says participants are able to submit three photos with a $15 entry fee for each picture.

By taking part, photographers not only contribute stunning images but also help fund lifesaving care for local wildlife.

“Money goes straight back to wildlife rehabilitation and the care that we provide these animals while they’re in our center before we ship them back out to the to the wild where they belong,” said Hunt.

Winners are selected by a panel of expert judges with a passion for both photography and wildlife and the top three along with nine others will be featured in Calgary Wildlife’s 2026 print calendar.

“There’s so many amazing shots,” said Hunt. " We really spend a lot of time with our judging panel and they have to whittle it down to the top 20 and then we have a meeting and discuss ethical wildlife photography, which is really important."

Raise awareness

The contest launches annually to coincide with International World Wildlife Day to raise awareness about the importance of wildlife conservation.

This year its theme is “Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and Planet,” which shines a light on the need for sustainable funding and innovative solutions to protect wildlife and their habitats.

Hunt said with an increasing number of species appearing on the COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) list as threatened or endangered, supporting rehabilitation efforts is more important than ever.

“We have so many fantastic, wonderful, stunning, wildlife that we share our spaces with in Alberta,” she said. “More than 500 different species so it’s always an opportunity to help showcase amateur photographers, to really help us see just the beauty of all the wild animals we share our spaces with.”

Chicadee

Pramod Ramamoorthy won the 2024 contest. He took up photography as a hobby in 2022 as a way to explore Calgary and motivate him to go outdoors year round, even in the brutally cold winter months.

“My first ever wildlife photo was in Carburn Park and that photo was of a chickadee, I just adored those little birds,” he said. “I’ve never paid attention to them before -- and it just got me hooked into this wildlife photography.”

Ramamoorthy took his award-winning photo at Prince’s Island Park of two ducks frolicking in the water.

“There were like couple of mallards, one was preening and the other one was bathing and was splashing the water all around,” he said. “We had this amazing sunset that day and all of the water splash from the other bird turned into these beautiful (water droplets) and it just made it amazing, I don’t think I could ever recreate the same shot again.”

Ramamoorthy says he take pictures for himself as a hobby and he shares them with family and friends. He saves the images on his computer but doesn’t print them.

“I try and print it out, but then it’s quite an expensive thing to do,” he said. “So I’ve been wanting to print something big, I’m exploring that, but this is the first time that I’m seeing my work printed on a paper, it’s so beautiful.”

Ramamoorthy says the Eye For the Wild contest does raise awareness about wildlife and it’s a way for him to share his passion of photography.

Learn more about it here.