After claiming runner-up in the “Epic Landscapes” category in last year’s competition, Brandon Broderick turned to his wife and made a resolution: “Next year, I want to win the whole thing.”

The 37-year-old, who originally hails from Windsor, Ont. but is now based in B.C., meant what he said. He spent the next year collecting as many shots as he could, with a focus on ethical wildlife photography. Broderick’s Tumbler Ridge surroundings offered chances to capture some of his favourite species, particularly the Canada lynx. Driving hundreds of kilometres down back roads along the Alaska Highway to the Yukon border proved most fruitful. “The cats are so much more relaxed out there.”

Some of Broderick’s most intimate encounters as a photographer have involved cats such as lynx and cougars. “They’re a challenge,” he says. “And, you know, cats are cats. They’re very entertaining to watch.”

Broderick recalls the moment a lynx fully relaxed with him, letting him accompany it as it walked down a powerline right of way, hunting voles. “Then it just laid down and had a nap right next to me,” he says.

The outdoors has long been important to Broderick, who spent his childhood wandering deer trails behind his house. Photography became a passion while he was studying fish and wildlife at college in Lindsay, Ont. At that time, Broderick took landscape photos with a three-megapixel Sony point-and-shoot. Since then, he has published three coffee table books on Northwest British Columbia and has gained a significant Instagram following. But Broderick says he isn’t satisfied yet. He hopes to start running grizzly bear photo tours in B.C. in the near future, and capture a dream shot or two — perhaps a polar bear or a wolverine. “I’m just gonna keep putting the miles in,” he says.  

Wildlife in Action

Winner: Liron Gertsman

A female pink salmon has completed its long journey from the ocean to its home river in central Vancouver Island to spawn — and perhaps become a meal for a hungry black bear. The photographer worked for three days to capture this split shot highlighting the relationship between these two keystone species. 

Runner-up: Matt Parish

A common loon shakes water from its feathers as the sun rises over Mitchell Lake in Kirkfield, Ont. 

Honourable mention: Shaun Antle

Water cascades over the eye of a great blue heron as it plunges its bill into Lake Chipican, near Sarnia, Ont. 

Urban and Natural Landscapes

Winner: Aaron Ward

The rising sun shines through a gap between the horizon and a blanket of dark clouds, illuminating Vancouver’s Science World building. 

Runner-up: Murray Cotton

The sun sets over the badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alta., a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its iconic hoodoos and abundance of dinosaur fossils. 

Honourable mention: Bing Li

The Three Sisters mountains are reflected in a small lake at sunset in Canmore, Alta. 

Outdoor Adventure

Winner: Alan McCord

A trio of surfers heads for shore, leaving the beach to the blackbirds as fog begins to roll in at Cox Bay in Tofino, B.C.

Runner-up: Chandresh Kedhambadi

An ice climber scales the inside of a glacier cave on the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park, Alta. Months later, the photographer returned to the area to find that this section of the glacier had disappeared. 

Honourable mention: Sara Kempner

A racer takes on the Creeper Trail near Nanaimo, B.C. during the BC Bike Race, a seven-day, multi-stage mountain bike race. Dry trail conditions made for some atmospheric shots as the morning sun filtered through dust kicked up by the racers. 

Weather, Seasons and Skies

Winner: Todd Mintz

Storm clouds gather over Powell Inlet on Devon Island, Nunavut. 

Runner-up: Joel Waghela

A G3 geomagnetic storm produces a dazzling display of aurora borealis over dilapidated farm structures in Pense, Sask. The G-Scale is used to measure the intensity of geomagnetic storms, with G1 being the weakest and G5 the strongest.