South Africa's Greg du Toit was victorious as the overall winner for his entry 'Essence of Elephants', with 14-year old, Udayan Rao Pawar, taking the top prize in the youth category.
Held at the Natural History Museum, Blitz Communications was contracted to deliver the event in the Central Hall. In a competition where image is king, it was crucial that both the photographs and the photographers themselves were shown in the best light possible.
Joanne Wood, senior events manager at the Museum said, "'The team at Blitz worked with us for over a year to deliver this very special event. We had many requests that are not standard for events at the Museum and they worked hard with our senior operations manager, Nigel Mullins, to make this happen, and all within a very limited set up time. Blitz's delivery on the night was seamless and everything we had hoped for. As accredited supplier of the Natural History Museum we are proud to be working with the very best the industry has to offer."
To make sure the brief was fully met, Blitz rigged an 8 x 4.5m truss-framed screen spanning the Hall's staircase, ensuring the focus was on high quality on-screen content. Using Barco FLM HD20 projectors, the Blitz team worked alongside the Museum's events staff to develop the optimal visual treatment for the photographers' work, including links and music stings commissioned especially for the event.
Munir Samji, executive chairman at Blitz, said that Blitz was truly honoured to have been selected to showcase the Natural History Museum's own highly prestigious event and added: "The Museum is open to visitors until 5.50pm every day so to set up for a major show like the 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' presents huge challenges. But with the experience we have built-up over the years as a preferred supplier and the fantastic support of the Museum staff, everything was set and good to go for the opening of the show at 7.30pm."
(Jim Evans)
