Wildlife Photographer of the Year Disqualification

[Mike Farley]

One of the sadder stories recently was the disqualification of Brazilian photographer Marcio Cabral from his first place in the "Animals In Their Environment" category of the 2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. He was accused of using a stuffed specimen which is on display at the entrance to the park where the shot was taken but has protested his innocence. At first glance, the anteater in the winning image does look very similar to the shot of the taxidermy one, but is all as it seems? An article on PetaPixel throws considerable doubt on the competition organiser's conclusion. In particular, an animation which switches between Cabral's shot and one of the stuffed animal appears to show differences in the front legs of the two. I am not sure that I share the opinion of the five independent experts who examined both images.

https://petapixel.com/2018/04/30/a-clos ... t-scandal/

[Iggy]

I would not expect to get a sharp image of an anteater foraging for termites with a long exposure of 30 seconds and ISO 5000 that Cabral says that he used!
Iggy

[Mike Farley]

I would not expect to get a sharp image of an anteater foraging for termites with a long exposure of 30 seconds and ISO 5000 that Cabral says that he used!
Iggy

He also used flash for the exposure and that would have rendered the anteater sharp, regardless of whther it was moving or not as the duration is around 1/20,000 sec.

[Sarahrs]

I have to say I have my doubts as well.
Essentially the working hypothesis is that the fella stole the stuffed animal, carried it to the spot, took one photo of it and then returned the stuffed animal.
Aspects that have not been explained publically
1. How easy is it for someone to walk off with said stuffed animal. Is it heavy? Is it practical to carry that thing, with all your camera equipment? (I've yet to meet a bloke photographer that does lightweight kit carrying). What was the distance from the stuffed animal location to the photographic location?
2. Was it reported stolen, or did staff the next day notice it moved?
3. Are hair tufts, and markings also genetic? And can ant-eaters of the same genetic heritage have similar markings etc.

[Mike Farley]

I would not expect to get a sharp image of an anteater foraging for termites with a long exposure of 30 seconds and ISO 5000 that Cabral says that he used!
Iggy

He also used flash for the exposure and that would have rendered the anteater sharp, regardless of whether it was moving or not as the duration is around 1/20,000 sec.

[Iggy]

Thanks Mike.
I should have realised that.
That has given me some ideas for some experimental photography to try out when conditions are right.
Regards,
Iggy.