If you enjoy superb wildlife and nature photographs — and have some time to spare — 121clicks.com has selected an extensive portfolio of wildlife photography websites that could entertain for hours.

While some of the photographers like Michael “Nick” Nichols, Anup Shah, and Steve Bloom are household names in this field, others are less well known — at least to me.

Some specialize in marine photography, while others concentrate on North American wildlife, which explains why their names are not immediately familiar to someone whose interest is mainly in African wildlife.

With the popularity of black and white photography soaring, Nick Brandt’s African images, particularly his unusual animal portraits, are sure to fascinate and intrigue.

Another photographer whose images are bound to evoke strong reactions, whether admiration, indifference or disdain, is Ganesh H Shankar, a part-time photographer from India. I’m an unashamed admirer who finds his images extraordinary.

The lovely photograph above grabbed top prize in the Professional Birds Category of the 2011 National Wildlife magazine’s photography competition. Captured by Dutch photographer Hennie van Heerden, the photo shows a Green-backed Heron hunting for fish in a flowing river at Mala Mala Game Reserve, South Africa.

By using a slow shutter speed while keeping the camera steady, Hennie cleverly portrays water flowing over the rocks in soft, beautifully muted colors, while keeping the heron sharp.

Hennie’s wildlife and nature photographs are outstanding — you can view more of her work and read about her rise to prominence as a wildlife photographer on her website, Hennie van Heerden.com

Hennie’s winning image was just one of nearly 27,000 entries in this year’s National Wildlife photography competition that covered the following categories: Connecting People and Nature, Backyard Habitats, Landscapes and Plant Life, Birds, Mammals and Other Wildlife, plus a popular new category, Baby Animals. In addition, there were three levels of photographers: professional, amateur, and youth.

Winning photographs in the various categories can be viewed in the slideshow below:

Photopeka.com is a recently launched photo blog that showcases a wide variety of photos from around the world.

Founder of the blog, Dustin Hill, clearly puts much time and thought into his selections, as they cover an intriguing range of subjects and locations. This type of selection is obviously subjective and not every shot will appeal to every reader.

However, what’s different and of value to photographers and those learning photography, is that Dustin adds comments and information about where and how the photograph was captured, including camera, lens and exposure details.

I’m obviously also happy that Dustin has included one of my photos from my Wildlife Photography Blog – see Zebra Trio

If you’re on the lookout for an inexpensive gift, we’ve put together a range of 2012 wildlife and nature calendars, in association with Calendars.com, that’s now available for viewing and ordering online.

In addition to African wildlife such as lions, elephants, giraffes and zebras, there are also calendars featuring cute baby animals, garden and backyard birds, colorful butterflies, Polar bears, tigers, wolves and riveting landscapes.

This compelling selection of 2012 calendars, including wall, desktop and mini-calendars, features photography by many renowned wildlife photographers, including those from National Geographic.

See 2012 Wildlife Calendars for more.

Two new cameras unveiled earlier this week are causing waves, but for very different reasons.

The Canon EOS 1D X is Canon’s new flagship digital SLR, featuring an 18-megapixel, full-frame CMOS sensor and a shooting speed of 12 frames a second. It replaces both the Canon 1D Mk IV with its APS-H format sensor and the full-frame Canon 1Ds Mk III, effectively consolidating the two ranges.

The ID X is expected to be available around March next year and will set you back close to $7,000.

Also expected to hit the shelves early next year, the other new camera unveiled, the Lytro Light Field Camera, will cost either $399 (8 Gb storage) or $499 with 16 gigs of storage.

What makes the Lytro different from anything seen before is the ability to set the focus later, on your computer. This is possible because the Lytro captures the entire light field — hence “light field” camera — whereas conventional cameras capture only a single plane of light.

From comments on photography websites and forums, it seems the Lytro is seen by many as a gimmick that’s headed for failure. But I’m not so sure and prefer speculating what’s possible when disruptive technology is introduced to a stable, mature industry — which makes me wonder whether the Lytro could in fact fundamentally change photography. See my article Will Lytro’s “focus later” Camera Revolutionise Photography? for more.

The winners of the 2011 British Wildlife Photography Awards have been announced. The competition is unique in that the images must be taken of British wildlife in their natural habitats.

This year’s winners included:

Animal Portraits Category: Mark Smith, image of Fallow Deer (Dama dama) titled Mystical Mist

Animal Behaviour Category: Andrew Parkinson, image of Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) titled Grey Heron Walking on Water

Urban Wildlife Category: David Biggs, image of European Starlings (Sturnes Vulgaris) titled Champagne Starling

Hidden Britain Category: Leslie Holburn, image of Scorpion Fly (Panorpa communis) titled Scorpion Fly on Leaf

Coast and Marine Category: Richard Shucksmith, image of Jellyfish (Pelegia noctiluca) title Jellyfish in the Blue Sea of Sula Sgeir

Wildlife in my Backyard Category: Rana Dias, image of Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) titled Busy Wasp on Blackberries

See British Wildlife Photography Awards for more.