public

2026 Biodiversity Photographer of the Year: Strategic Guide

This guide aligns the National Biodiversity Week rules with your professional-grade underwater macro gear and your local West Cork shore diving sites.

📅 The “May Window” Rule

• Capture Dates: May 1st – May 31st, 2026.
• Submission Deadline: May 31st, 2026 (Midnight).
• Criteria: Photos must be taken this month. Older award-winning shots are ineligible for this specific competition.

🏆 Competitive Categories

1. Ocean Category (Fair Seas): Best for your specialized 60mm Macro and Snoot setup. Focus on marine life stories.
2. Biodiversity Photographer of the Year: General category. Great for land-based macro (pollinators) or coastal birds.

📍 Top West Cork Shore Sites for May

| Site | Best For… | Targeted Shot | | :— | :— | :— | | Lough Hyne | Bio-Density | Symbiosis: Snakelocks anemone with Inachus crabs/shrimp. | | Tragumna | Life Cycles | Reproduction: Lumpsuckers guarding egg masses in the shallows. | | Castlehaven | Adaptation | Camouflage: Flatfish eyes buried in silt or Scorpion fish textures. |

📸 High-Score Shooting Strategy

Judges for biodiversity contests look for narrative over just “pretty portraits”:

• The Interaction: Capture two species interacting (e.g., a nudibranch on its food source).
• The Life Cycle: Look for eggs, mating, or juvenile species. May is peak time for these.
• Technique: Use your Optical Snoot OS-1 to isolate the subject. High-contrast “black background” macro shots make the biodiversity (colors/textures) stand out without backscatter interference.

⚙️ Gear Checklist (OM-1 Mark II)

• Custom Mode C1: Manual, f/16-20, 1/250s, ISO 200 (Optimized for Strobes).
• Focusing: Back Button Focus (AF-ON) for precision on moving subjects like shrimp.
• Aids: Use S-AF + Small Point to nail the focus on the animal’s eye.

🔗 Submissions

Upload your top 5 shots from this month at: www.biodiversityweek.ie