A polar bear makes its way towards the camera during a photo shoot on the shores of Hudson Bay, Manitoba, Canada. A 2008 award winning picture by Thomas Schaeffer.

The internet is one of the most common and far reaching ways for photographers to publish their work. By posting pictures in one of the many "communities" which provide a platform for photographers to showcase their work and create virtual photo galleries, opportunities exist for exposure of their work where it can be discussed and critiqued. One of these communities is the Germany-based fotocommunity.de. With more than 11 million posted pictures it is one of the largest picture servers in Europe.

Our photographer Thomas Schaeffer is very active in this community and was nominated for winning the "2008 Fotocommunity award" for the channel Nature Photography with a stunning shot of a Polar bear coming out of a bush on the tundra which fringes Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba. The shot was taken during a trip with Michelle and Rolf Hicker in November 2007 through the arctic tundra - home of wildlife such as polar bears, ptarmigans, arctic fox, and caribou.

As a result of this award, Thomas and his winning shot drew the attention of german magazine STERN, which in turn printed the shot with the accompanying story in the recent special for Photokina. This picture and 4 more of Thomas´ work can be seen on the huge fotocommunity stand during the photokina (Sep 23rd to Sep 28th, 2008) event in Cologne, Germany.