American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Green grass, blue skies and polar bears.
It's not a combination many people picture when thinking of the burly creatures in Canada's Arctic, but it's one that was captured by Martin Gregus. His breathtaking and intimate photos of polar bears enjoying the summer sun earned him one of wildlife photography's most prestigious honours.
This week the Vancouver man won the Rising Star Portfolio Award at the Natural History Museum's 2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, a prize given to young photographers aged 18 to 26. His work will be featured at the London, U.K., museum and later toured around the world.
"It was just a dream come true," he told CTV National News of winning the award. "I've been doing photography since I was eight years old."
Gregus and his team, which included his assistant and a bear guard, travelled to Hudson Bay for 13 days in 2020 and 20 days in 2021 to get up close and personal with the local wildlife.
"We managed to document some unbelievable behaviours, and it was so exciting just waking up in the morning and seeing these bears right in front of your window," he said.
A picture from the photo series that won Martin Gregus the Rising Star Portfolio Award at the Natural History Museum's 2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. (Courtesy of Martin Gregus)
But it's not just about being in the right place at the right time, according to Gregus. Part of the work involves avoiding interference with the animals and allowing them to get accustomed to your presence -- something that is evident in one of his photos, which features a mother nursing two of her cubs.
"I get goosebumps thinking about it," he said of the photo. "[It was] very intimate, and that's just hours and hours of homework you put in with these bears to sort of introduce them to you."
Other pictures from the winning set included two female polar bears playing in shallow water, along with an adult taking an afternoon nap in the grass with a cub.
A picture from the photo series that won Martin Gregus the Rising Star Portfolio Award at the Natural History Museum's 2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. (Courtesy of Martin Gregus)
Many of the photos were taken with the use of drones, which let Gregus observe the surrounding wildlife while keeping his distance.
It wasn't always so easy, however, keeping the bears at bay. Camping in the wilderness without a bathroom in sight can leave a person rather exposed.
"Every time you need to go, you take a gun with you and you just go out and find a nice area and you hide there and occasionally polar bears go by," Gregus said.
Gregus had to beat out a wide field to win his award.
"Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the world's biggest wildlife photography competition. It's been running for 57 years," Natalie Cooper, competition judge and senior researcher at the Natural History Museum, told CTV National News. "We had over 50,000 entries this year and we had to then narrow those down to just 100."
A picture from the photo series that won Martin Gregus the Rising Star Portfolio Award at the Natural History Museum's 2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. (Courtesy of Martin Gregus)
The competition this year included awards in 19 categories and also offered a number of commendations.
"What we're looking for is technically excellent photographs but really beautiful photographs as well, so things that make you stop and think and want to keep looking at them," she said. "We're also interested in things that have a story behind them, too."
Gregus also wasn't the only Canadian to be recognized for his wildlife photography.
Gil Wizen of Mississauga, Ont., won two awards. One was in the “Behaviour: Invertebrates” category, for his close-up of a spider in the midst of weaving with its webbing. Two more of his photos received commendations under this category.
His second award was in the “Urban Wildlife” category, where he photographed a large Brazilian wandering spider, seemingly guarding its newborn brood, after finding them under the bed he was sleeping on.
Shane Kalyn of Vancouver also won an award in the “Behaviour: Birds” category for his close-up of two courting ravens.
Celina Chien was commended in the “Photojournalism” category for her picture of a Bornean orangutan gripping the bars between enclosures at a zoo, and Nichole Vijayan was commended in the “11-14 Years” category for her photo of an eastern bluebird feeding its chick.
A picture from the photo series that won Martin Gregus the Rising Star Portfolio Award at the Natural History Museum's 2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. (Courtesy of Martin Gregus)
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Technology from the 19th century has been brought out of retirement at a Newfoundland gardening store, as staff look for all the help they can get to fill orders during a busy season.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.