British ColumbiaVancouver’s Liron Gertsman has won the Bird Photographer of the Year title for a photo he took in 2024 off the coast of Mexico during a total solar eclipse that captured the silhouette of a frigatebird in flight.Liron Gertsman wins Bird Photographer of the Year title for The Frigatebird and the Diamond RingCourtney Dickson · CBC News · Posted: Oct 02, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoLiron Gertsman, 25, has been named Bird Photographer of the Year in a global competition for his photo The Frigatebird and the Diamond Ring. (Ian Harland/Liron Gertsman)After years of planning for the perfect bird photo, Vancouver’s Liron Gertsman did it. Now, he’s been named Bird Photographer of the Year, for a photo he took in 2024 off the coast of Mexico during a total solar eclipse that captured the silhouette of a frigatebird in flight.The story behind the photo goes back as far as 20 years, when Gertsman was five.”At the time my parents had a tiny little, one of the basic, most simple cameras you could get at the time, and that’s what I started taking pictures of birds with,” he told CBC’s The Early Edition.Liron Gertsman won the Audubon Photography Awards’ youth category in 2018 with his photo of cobalt-winged parakeets in Ecuador. The Vancouver photographer, then 17, also took both honourable mentions in an unprecedented sweep. (lirongertsman.com)From there, his passion for photography and wildlife grew. Then, in high school, astronomy piqued his interest. “I had these two passions: bird photography and the night sky — celestial events. I decided I wanted to combine these into one dramatic photo.”That’s when it hit him: a bird in front of a total solar eclipse.WATCH | A week in the life of wildlife photographer Liron Gertsman:A week in the life of a professional wildlife photographerLiron Gertsman is on a mission to capture a photo of the white-tailed Ptarmigan, an elusive bird that spends its entire life at high elevations. Short documentary produced for CBC Creator Network.Total solar eclipses occur when the moon passes in front of the sun, blocking out its light. According to retired NASA astronomer Fred Espenak, total solar eclipses are rare in that they’re only visible from a very small area on Earth’s surface. The average for any one spot on Earth to see a total eclipse is about once every 375 years, said Espenak.Gertsman figured out when and where a total solar eclipse would happen. “The one on April 8th, 2024 really caught my eye because it crossed the West Coast of Mexico,” he said. “The West Coast of Mexico has some incredible seabird colonies.”He planned it out so that he would take a boat out onto the ocean, positioned next to some small islets off the coast of Mazatlán.”I figured that during the eclipse, it would get dark. The birds would think it was night time, they’d fly into their island to roost,” Gertsman said. Using the boat, he’d be able to get underneath them and get that perfect shot. Gertsman went out on a boat on April 8, 2024, to get the perfect — and award-winning — shot. (Submitted)”I was able to see hundreds of frigate birds flying in front of the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen, which is that total solar eclipse.”Bobbing up and down on the ocean isn’t exactly the easiest way to take a photograph. But Gertsman isn’t interested in doing things traditionally. “You don’t get photos that have never been taken before by doing things the way that everyone does them,” he said. Gertsman is pictured, happy with his efforts, after taking the photo that would ultimately net him the title of Bird Photographer of the Year. (Submitted)To deal with the movement in the boat, he had to get his camera settings just right — and that meant a lot of practice in the days leading up to the eclipse. He spent a lot of time adjusting his camera settings and monitoring frigatebird behaviour in advance of April 8.Even with all that preparation, Gertsman was nervous the weather would hamper his photo: clouds were in the forecast. “I was fully prepared for the fact that it may or may not actually happen the way I envisioned it, and I was willing to accept the outcome regardless of whether it was a successful photo shoot or not, because I knew it would be a remarkable experience just getting to see the total solar eclipse,” he said. Ultimately, the skies were clear and he got the shot. The Frigatebird and the Diamond Ring, shown here, took years to plan, Gertsman says. (Liron Gertsman Photography)Being named Bird Photographer of the Year means people are seeing his work, which includes other wildlife shots like a bear catching a fish, a group of bald eagles and a particularly patriotic photo of Canadian geese under the northern lights. He also won a cash prize of £3,500, which is a little more than $6,500 Cdn.Liron Gertsman has been interested in birds since he was just five years old. (Liron Gertsman Photography)But the real payoff, Gertsman said, is the attention the competition brings to preserving nature. “The power of photography is in communicating just how special and worth protecting things like birds are,” he said. “Birds really do play a really impactful role in the world’s ecosystems. They inspire people.”LISTEN | Vancouver’s Liron Gertsman wins Bird Photographer of the Year:The Early Edition9:40Local wildlife photographer named Bird Photographer of the YearVancouver-based photographerer, Liron Gertsman, won for his photo titled “The Frigatebird and the Diamond Ring” taken in Mazatlan, Mexico during a total solar eclipse.ABOUT THE AUTHORCourtney Dickson is an award-winning journalist based in Vancouver, B.C.With files from Nicole Mortillaro and The Early Edition
Vancouver wildlife photographer eclipses global competition with dramatic shot during solar event
