Congratulations to Mark Chittenden on winning the title of Getaway Photographer of the Year for 2014!
Here were the top ten images from the 2014 Getaway Gallery Competition.
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- First Place: Mark Chittenden with ‘Under the Stars’ After a strenuous hike in the Cederberg Wilderness, we camped at the famous landmark, the Wolfberg Arch. My ideal would have been the Milky Way over the arch but it was lying in the opposite direction. That said, I still loved the rock formations we could see and using what we had, came up with this shot. It is a truly ‘dark sky’ at this location and, exposing for 35 seconds, the sensor just soaked up all the stars that night. The challenge was lighting the tent: we used a headlamp wrapped in a thin neck scarf. – By Mark Chittenden, Cape Town Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L II, ISO 3200, f2.8, 35 sec
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- Second Place: Tyrone Mckendry with Flight from Flames I stood helplessly watching a pair of African grass-owls fleeing from the ferocious flames as their nesting site in Kyalami was completely destroyed in a matter of minutes in November 2013. Fires like this one (apparently started on the neighbouring vacant land) could have serious repercussions for the future of these wonderful birds. – By Tyrone Mckendry, Johannesburg Canon 60D, Canon 18–135mm f/3.5-5.6, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/4000 sec
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- Third place: Alexandra Novitske with Fish for Sale My travel companion and I were cycling through the small villages outside Djenne, Mali, when we came across this boy selling fish he’d caught in the streams nearby. We played with the children for a long time in the village, but he was still disappointed that we weren’t interested in buying some of his fish. – By Alexandra Novitske, Lagos, Nigeria Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 16-35mm 2.8L II, ISO 200, f/10, 1/400 sec
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- I witnessed a very special moment at Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana, when a leopard took down a guinea fowl and began feasting on it. The black and white on the guinea fowl made for an opportunity to convert to black and white with interesting effect. By Jaco Marx, Bethlehem. Canon 1Dx, Canon 500mm f/4L, ISO 1250, f/4.0, 1/3200 sec.
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- On this particular day at Duiker Island on South Africa’s cold Atlantic coast, the water was clean and the Cape fur seals weren’t coming very close but still surrounding me. I turned one strobe off and left the other on a low setting, trying to use natural light to highlight the distant seals’ silhouettes. I shot into the sun to get the light beams filtering through the water. I almost froze while taking these images, as the water was 10° Celsius and I shot for more than an hour. For me, this photo captures the feeling I had down there, and that’s all that a photographer can aim to achieve. By Steven Benjamin, Cape Town. Nikon D70, Tokina 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5, ISO 200, f/10, 1/160 sec, Nikonos 180 flash.
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- Being a passionate underwater photographer, and living in Durban, photographing sharks is a must. Upping the challenge to capture them at sunset and in an over-under shot doesn’t happen too often, and this one lined up perfectly. By Anthony Grote, Durban. Nikon D800, Nikon 16mm f/2.8, ISO 320, f/11, 1/250 sec, 2 x Inon underwater strobes.
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- Sandgrouse are known for gathering in noisy flocks and assaulting this waterhole in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. I waited for days, sitting in my vehicle in the intense heat, specifically to photograph the action. Finally, I got what I came for. Conditions were perfect, and I captured one second of flurried activity. I didn’t know whether I had managed to get it in frame – but on review I saw a series of perfect images of the goshawk with its talons around a female Burchell’s sandgrouse, Pterocles burchelli. By Andre Demblon, Cape Town. Canon 1Dx, Canon 500mm f/4L II, ISO 800, f/8, 1/2500 sec.
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- I came across this mother baboon cradling her offspring on an overcast day outside the fenced tourist area on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. There was quite a bit of water vapour in the air (spray from the falls), making it hazy. I approached cautiously and managed to get a decent angle by crouching very low to the ground. By Chantelle Melzer, Vryheid. Canon 60D, Canon 70–200 f/4L. ISO 500, f/5, 1/160 sec.
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- I arrived at Mankwe Hide in Pilanesberg National Park at sunrise on one of the shortest and possibly coldest days of the year. Darters were already stretching their wings to capture the first sunrays bursting through the mist. By Chris Jek, Johannesburg. Canon 5D Mk II, Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L, ISO 100, f/5, 1/4000 sec .
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- You’ll find the Hole in the Wall near Coffee Bay, on the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape. It is probably the most iconic landmark in South Africa after Table Mountain. The local inhabitants call it ‘EsiKhaleni’ or ‘Place of Noise’ and it was created thousands of years ago through the action of waves against sandstone and shale… A timeless monument to real, wild Africa. By Rudi van den Heever, Pretoria. Canon 5D Mark III, 16-35mm f/2.8L, ISO 100, f/11, 90 sec, Lee Big Stopper filter.
For an in-depth look at how we chose the top three images, view our View Judges’ image critique.
First Prize: Mark wins a week-long photographic safari to the Masai Mara sponsored by C4 Images and Safaris, a Tamron lens bundle: 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, 150-600mm f/5-6.3 lens, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, a Lowepro Pro Trekker 400 AW Backpack, and a Manfrotto MT055CXPRO4 4-Section Pro Carbon Fibre Tripod with 460MG 3D Magnesium Head.
Prize value: R85 000
Second Prize: Tyrone wins a Tamron lens bundle: 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, 150-600mm f/5-6.3 lens, Lowepro Pro Trekker 400 AW Backpack, Manfrotto MT055CXPRO4 4-Section Pro Carbon Fibre Tripod with 460MG 3D Magnesium Head.
Prize value: R28 000
Third Prize: Alexandra wins a Tamron lens bundle: 16-300mm F/3.5-6.3 lens, Lowepro Pro Trekker 400 AW Backpack, Manfrotto MKBFRA4-BH Befree Ball Head Tripod Kit.
Prize value: R9 000
We received over 3000 entries during the course of this competition. Of those, 88 made it into the magazine, published as finalists. Johan Siggesson walks away with a copy of the beautiful book, Reflection, by Heinrich van den Berg, valued at R980 for being the photographer with the most entries in finalist position. Thank you to our sponsors, below, for coming on board and creating our fantastic prizes.
