EUROPEAN WILDLIFE FOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2019

Overall Winner: Eduardo Blanco Mendizabal - Spain

The Ghost

Early this year, I visited the nature park of Sierra de Andújar in Andalusia (Spain) to look for the most endangered species of wild cats in Europe, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus). One evening, I discovered a lynx right beside the road. The animal hardly took any notice, but proceeded to groom itself quietly. Even the headlights of my car did not bother it. I took many photographs, but only in this one shot, the lynx's eyes light up ghostlike.

 

Canon EOS 7D Mark II, 4.0/200-400mm, ISO 800, tripod

Biography Eduardo Blanco Mendizabal

Eduardo Blanco Mendizabal, born in Corella, Spain, in 1977, has always been drawn to photography, but didn't get his first camera until the age of 19. Growing up in a small town in pre-digital times, his road to photography was a long and hard learning process.His degree in Wildlife and Forestry Conservation and a licence as a nature guide gave him the chance to feel the soil underneath his feet and the wind in his face. He loved his three-year stint as an environmental technician in his hometown and still occasionally leads guided tours at the Natural Park of Bardenas Reales.

With his favourite lens, a 100-400mm tele-zoom, Eduardo Blanco Mendizabal’s subjects are as varied as wild animals, details of remote sceneries or portraits of people. Although his portfolio mainly consists of landscapes, he also aims at depicting mammals – and sometimes he is lucky!

A professional photographer since 2005, his pictures have been published in the leading Spanish photography magazines.

Eduardo Blanco Mendizabal is a renowned wildlife and travel photographer, who likes to share his time and experience with students during workshops in Spain and photography tours around the world. He loves to discover new countries, but ends up finding motivation near home.

He is the author of several books, among them Fotografiar con mal tiempo, un buen momento (2016) and Bardenas Reales, en busca de la luz (2018).

ebmfoto.com