The Judges
The judges of Deer Photographer of the Year are active wildlife photographers who have spent many hours photographing wild deer. And as a result of their experiential knowledge, you can rest assured that your images will be looked at by practicing wildlife photographers who understand what it takes to make a good photograph of a deer.
Laurie Campbell
Neil McIntyre
Jochen Langbein
Mark Nicolaides
Laurie Campbell
With a life-long interest in the natural world and a self-taught naturalist, Laurie Campbell has dedicated almost fifty years photographing Scotland’s distinctive wildlife, flora and landscape.
After graduating with a degree in photography at Napier University in Edinburgh in the early 1980's, he began his career as arguably Scotland’s first full-time, independent professional nature photographer.
His experience in photography means that he is in demand as a lecturer and photographic workshop leader in the UK and throughout Europe. He is also valued as a photographic judge and has been invited onto the panel for the prestigious ‘BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year’, a competition in which he has previously won twenty three awards.
Laurie's imagery is published across a range of media internationally and is widely recognised for its distinctive style but his most treasured accolades to date was to be voted for inclusion in ‘Highland Naturalists’ an exhibition featuring thirty people from the past 300 years whose work has significantly contributed to the understanding and enjoyment of the natural history in the Scottish Highlands.
Similarly, in 2014 he was honoured with a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' in the RSPB Nature of Scotland Awards in recognition of the lasting contribution his photography has made to conservation in Scotland.
Laurie has written a monthly column for the UK's "Outdoor Photography" magazine for over twenty years and has published several books, the most recent being, "Ripples on the River: Celebrating the Return of the Otter", was co-authored with Anna Levin.
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Neil McIntyre
Neil McIntyre is a long standing, award winning professional wildlife photographer based in Scotland's Cairngorm National Park and has known deer all his life.
For over 30 years, Neil has produced imagery that has given people a detailed appreciation of deer as a species and their place in the habitat in which they live. In 2021, his work with red deer culminated in the well received book, "Chasing the Deer: The Red Deer through the Seasons", published by Sandstone Press. His images have also been used in over 25 other books and as well as published in national newspapers, plus many magazines such as BBC Wildlife magazine and publications of the John Muir Trust, Scottish National Heritage, the Cairngorm National Park Authority and the British Deer Society. The red squirrel is also a focus of Neil's work, which again, resulted in a book: "The Red Squirrel: A Future in the Forest", published by Wild Media Foundation.
Neil's images has been repeatedly awarded in photography competitions, with multiple awards in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, which have included two consecutive Eric Hosking's Awards, and also in the British Wildlife Photography Awards, where he has won the portrait category with an image of a red deer stag and the seasons category with a portfolio of red squirrel images, along with several other images that have been highly commended. In 2017, Neil was also part of the judging panel of the B.W.P.A.
As well as creating his own image library of Scottish wildlife, Neil also runs his own very successful wildlife photography tours, complementing his established red squirrel hides, where other photographers can benefit from Neil's extensive knowledge to produce their own images of Scotland's iconic wildlife.
Jochen Langbein
Over the past forty years, deer have been the predominant theme both in Jochen Langbein’s working life as a mammal ecologist and deer management consultant, and as the primary focus of his passion for wildlife filming and photography.
Following his doctoral studies (into reproductive condition and mating systems of fallow deer), Jochen moved to Exmoor in the early 1990s to lead a 4-year project for Southampton University into the ranging behaviour and impacts of red deer. Having fallen in love with the area, he and his family settled there, and set up Langbein Wildlife Associates (an eco-consultancy that continues to specialise in survey and advice regarding impacts and management of wild and park deer throughout the UK).
The underlying reason for studying animal behaviour at university has always been his passion for observing, filming and photographing mammals. Jochen has incorporated photography as a key part of his work whenever possible. 25 years ago he was already making extensive use of remote CCTV set-ups to study wild deer activity in agricultural crops, long before the now widespread availability of small IR trailcam technology had taken off. When leading the National Deer Vehicle Collisions Project (deercollisions.co.uk 2003-2022), his use of remote CCTV was again central to gaining a better understanding of deer behaviour in relation to roads and wildlife mitigation measures; not merely for the 24/7 insights into deer behaviour, but also much unique footage captured to be used in the media in order to help raise public awareness of wildlife issues.
Jochen believes deer are too often politicised and portrayed in a negative light, rather than as the ‘keystone’ species and ecosystem engineers they are when well managed. Deer study, photography and filming continues to be his main interest, using his Youtube channel, ‘Deertails’ blog and social media in the hope of sharing his knowledge and interest of the species.
Mark Nicolaides
Mark Nicolaides has maintained an active interest in wildlife for over forty years and has written three books: Swan Life, Raising Sky; A Roe Deer's Year and A Year in the Life of a Roe Deer. All three books are based on observations made in the field, and are designed to give the reader a real understanding of the hidden day-to-day life of two of the most widespread animals in the UK.
He believes that respectful wildlife photography carried out in a way that minimises disturbance to nature can play an integral part in how the natural world is perceived and understood, as well as how imagery can act as a catalyst for education and change. It was for these reasons, and his own personal long-standing appreciation of deer, that prompted him to start Deer Photographer of the Year.
Outside of photography, Mark is the Head of Physics at a British senior school. In 2014, he was invited by the Institute of Physics to attend their annual award ceremony in London, where he was honoured with an award in recognition for his part in the outstanding achievements of his advanced level students, many of whom have gone on to carry out their own original scientific research in various fields such as mathematics and astrophysics.
Mark believes seeing nature in all its forms, plays an important part in us being able to appreciate the significance and beauty of our native plants and animals. By sharing our work, we can bring enjoyment to ourselves and others, whilst at the same time, hopefully showing that nature has a place in this busy world alongside us.
