The 2025 Judges
Take a look at our wonderful panel of judges for Bird Photographer of the Year 2025.
Majed Al Za’abi
Kuwait
Majed is a multi award-winning photographer and a Nikon Ambassador. In 2020, he was the grand prize winner of Bird Photographer of the Year.
Rachel Bigsby
United Kingdom
Rachel Bigsby is a self-made wildlife photographer whose genuine, lifelong passion for nature and creative flair have driven her remarkable journey in the field. At the age of 27, she won the ‘Natural Artistry’ category in Wildlife Photographer of the Year, the Portfolio Award in Bird Photographer of the Year, become a Nikon Creator, and a published photographer for National Geographic.
Aaron Baggenstos
United States of America
Aaron Baggenstos is an acclaimed wildlife photographer and tour leader, renowned for his captivating, conservation-focused images worldwide.
Aparupa Dey
India
Aparupa is a wildlife photographer whose work has been published in renowned pages such as Nikon India, BBC, and Animal Planet. She has a keen eye for composition, believing this to be the sole of photography.
Richard Peters
United Kingdom
Richard is a highly acclaimed wildlife photographer with a style that favours light and drama over subject. He is a Nikon Ambassador Alumni and leads photographic safaris. Alongside picking up awards in major competitions such as WPOTY and GDT, he has also been on the jury of many photography competitions.
Paul Sterry
United Kingdom
Paul is a best-selling author of photographically-illustrated wildlife field guides. A passion for bird photography led to him to found BPOTY and he continues to promote the competition’s conservation-orientated vison through its supportive relationship with the charity Birds on the Brink.
Andrew Cleave MBE
United Kingdom
Andrew, a biology teacher by training, is one of the founders of BPOTY, author and contributor to over 30 books on a wide range of natural history topics, and a busy wildlife tour leader in the UK and further afield. Andrew was appointed MBE for services to Environmental Education in 1995.
Will Nicholls
United Kingdom
Will is the Director of Bird POTY. He is a wildlife cameraman working in natural history television, with credits for BBC, AppleTV, Netflix, Disney+, and more. He specialises in working at height in the forest canopy. He has also been a stills photographer since 2007.