Judges

Melissa Groo Conservation Photographer

Melissa Groo is a wildlife photographer, writer, and conservationist with a passion for educating people about the marvels of the natural world. She believes that photography can be both fine art and a powerful vehicle for storytelling, and considers herself a “wildlife biographer” as much as a wildlife photographer.  Melissa has served on the jury of numerous photo contests, including Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Audubon Photography Awards, Bird Photographer of the Year, Nature’s Best, The Big Picture, and NANPA. Melissa’s work has appeared on the covers of Audubon, Smithsonian, Natural History, Living Bird, and Outdoor Photographer magazines and in publications ranging from National Geographic to National Wildlife to Natural History.  It is her mission to raise awareness and change minds about not only the extrinsic beauty of animals, but also their intrinsic worth. Melissa is an Associate Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers.Melissa has received awards and honorable mentions in national and international photography competitions, including Audubon (2015 Grand Prize winner), Nature’s Best, and NANPA.

Dr Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj Indian Forest Service.

Is currently working as the Deputy Director General of Forests, Integrated Regional Office, Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change, Chandigarh. He joined Indian Forest Service in 1994. He has done his Ph.D. from the University of Rajasthan on the topic entitled “Plant Resource Utilization by the avian fauna in Sitamata Wildlife Sanctuary” . Based on his observations on tigers, he has authored a book on tiger, “Tracking Tigers in Ranthambhore”. As Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Jodhpur, he has supervised the various in situ conservation efforts for the conservation of critically endangered Great Indian Bustard. He is a commission member of IUCN SSC Bustard Specialist Group. Based on his experience in managing Thar landscape, he has also authored a coffee table book Desert National Park: A jewel in the vibrant Thar . He is the recipient of the State Award in 1999 for outstanding services for the State of Rajasthan. A keen traveler and writer, Dr Bhardwaj is also an avid wildlife photographer whose images have been published in many journals and magazines of fame and he is also the recipient of Best Wildlife Photographer of the year award-2nd prize in the year 2011 by

Denise Ippolito Wildlife Photographer

Denise is a full-time award-winning professional photographer, workshop leader, and artist living in New Jersey. She travels extensively presenting slide lectures and seminars and teaching photography and Photoshop. Her workshops feature a variety of subjects including: avian, wildlife, flowers, landscape, and creative photography.
In 2017, her image titled “Snow Globe” was selected as the First Place “Winged Life” category winner for the BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition. Her image of a Moseley’s Rockhopper Penguin was selected as the “Birds” Category Winner in the prestigious Nature’s Best 2016 Windland Smith Rice International Awards Competition. In 2015, she also won the Category for “Art in Nature” in the same Nature’s Best Competition. She hasten innumerable such awards in wildlife photography. She has also served as Jury in Bird POTY 2023.
She has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Nature’s Best Magazine, Wild Galapagos magazine, GEO magazine, Powder magazine, The Open University of Israel textbooks, Wonders book by California Academy of Sciences, and many more. Her images have hung in the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and The San Diego Natural History Museum.

Michael Shainblum Landscape Photographer

Michael Shainblum is a photographer, filmmaker, and educator based in San Francisco, California. He has been working professionally as a photographer and filmmaker for 17 years since the age of 16. He has been commissioned by clients such as Disney, Nike, Samsung, Apple, and Google. He also shares his knowledge via his Youtube Channel, workshops, and video tutorials. He has won multiple awards and has his works published very widely. He also has served as jury for many prestigious competitions.Michael Shainblum specializes in landscape, aerial, timelapse and milky way astrophotography. He produces original video content and photography galleries. As well as photography tutorials and education. Michael has a decade of experience in professional photography and filmmaking.

Sachin Rai Wildlife Photographer.

Sachin Rai, a highly esteemed and accomplished professional wildlife photographer hailing from India, has carved a remarkable niche for himself in the realm of capturing the mesmerizing beauty of nature. He is a Canon Maestro and Vivographer. He is also a multiple award winning wildlife photographer. With an impressive track record spanning over two decades in the travel industry, Sachin has become a true virtuoso in his field. At the helm of the astounding venture known as Gliding Frog, Sachin combines his deep passion for photography and travel, offering extraordinary opportunities for enthusiasts to embark on captivating wildlife photography tours across the globe. Participants have the opportunity to learn from Sachin himself, benefiting from his in-depth knowledge and profound understanding of wildlife behavior, lighting techniques, and composition.

Grant Atkinson Wildlife Photographer.

Grant Atkinson is a very well known wildlife photographer, guide and writer. He is an enthusiastic lover of nature and has travelled widely in Africa and abroad for wildlife. He spent twelve years guiding full-time in Botswana. Today he leads groups of travellers to Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa as well as other destinations further afield. Grant shoots a variety of wildlife related subject matter with big cats being amongst his favourites. His images have been on the cover of both Africa Geographic and the US National Geographic Kids magazine. He is a regular contributor of text and images to African Birdlife magazine.

Kiran Poonacha Wildlife Photographer

Kiran Poonacha is one of the most talented wildlife photographers in the country. Every wildlife aficionado in the country has been enjoying the fruits of his labour and his images are a sight for sore eyes. Kiran Poonacha is a Realtor by profession and a bird photographer by passion. He mainly works on Raptors around Bangalore and Coorg. Going beyond just making portraits, he loves to photograph moments in a birds day to day life and share it with world to get more people interested and involved to love birds and in turn help conserve their habitat. He has about a million followers on social media; his work has been published in leading wildlife and photography magazines. He has also won National and International awards for his work in photography.
He is based in Bangalore, India.

Subharanjan Sen Indian Forest Service

Subharanjan Sen is from IFS 1991 batch, Madhya Pradesh Cadre,  currently working as APCCF (Wildlife) in Madhya Pradesh. After the initial in-service training started off as a probationer in Seoni district in 1994 which has the Pench Tiger reserve. After an optional wildlife training at WII Dehradun (PG Diploma in wildlife), was posted as Director, Satpura National Park in 1996. This was before it was notified as a Tiger Reserve. In 1999 was transferred to Shivpuri as Director Madhav National Park. Thereafter posted as Deputy Director Pench Tiger Reserve in 2002. In 2005 was transferred to Kanha Tiger Reserve as Deputy Director. Was out of the state on deputation to the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun as Faculty (Scientist “F”) for 6 years and finally in 2015 was posted as Field Director, Pench Tiger reserve. After promotion to APCCF in 2018, he is working in  the Forest Headquarters in Bhopal. He is an avid traveller , noted Wildlife Photographer and a die hard conservationist.