A selection of the best readers’ photographs submitted to the Getaway Gallery photo competition for August 2016.
Getaway Gallery is a prestigious showcase of the best photographs our readers have to offer. This year we bring you our biggest competition yet, with travel and equipment prizes to the value of over R160000.
Take a look at our July 2016 Gallery for more inspirational images.
August’s finalists
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- During the five months that I had been trying to habituate this particular aardvark to my presence, I started to notice its unique feeding behaviour. When the aardvark had detected the presence of the insects (mainly termites and ants), it would expose them by opening up an area of ground with its claws which sent the ants scurrying out. It would feed – best described as a combination of vacuuming and sucking – for a short time before walking off. I wanted to photograph this moment and the best way was to get myself into a position where it was backlit. The light caught the dust and the aardvark had just started to feed on the first ants coming out of the hole. – By Etienne Oosthuizen, Nelspruit Canon 6D, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/400 sec
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- I took this image of a herd of wildebeest kicking up the dust during sunrise at in Etosha National Park. – By Udo Kieslich, Johannesburg Nikon D800, Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G, ISO 400, f/4, 1/8000 sec
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- There is unfortunately no word in the English language for this title. We were sitting at the waterhole at Rooiputs in the Kgalagadi Transfronteir Park watching a pride of lions drinking. This male lion approached the lioness with some intentions, but as you can see from her reactions, she was not interested at all. He kept on at her, until all of a sudden she just got fed up, swung around and gave him a real snotklap. What makes this shot is the perfect timing – the spray flying out of the male’s nostrils and mouth and the position of the female’s paw, claws clearly showing, right in his face. – By Dr Johan Kloppers, Fish Hoek Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 500mm f/4L, ISO 1000, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec
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- The Drakensberg is relentless in its moods and unpredictable weather patterns, but ‘the Berg’ is also generous in its offerings of pristine beauty for adventurers and photographers alike. – By Rudi van den Heever, Pretoria Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L, ISO 100, f/14, 8 sec and 30 sec blended exposures
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- This picture was taken while I was driving to the researcher’s camp in Liuwa Plain National Park – Zambia. This hyena was part of a group of six sleeping around the waterhole. I stopped to photograph him as he was cooling off in the waterhole. I got off my motorbike and lay on the grass to get a low angle, and he approached me to investigate what I was doing. Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec
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- This image was taken last year in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. I sat, fascinated, for hours watching the courtship between these two bateleur eagles. What’s interesting about these birds to me is that the female is larger than the male and they not only pair for life, but also stay in the same nest for years. – By Bev Dudley, Olivedale Canon 5D Mark III, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3
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- We were on safari in KZN and were sitting at a water hide for about three hours, waiting for something to happen. At long last, this yellow-billed stork caught a massive fish. – By Charlene Bacchioni, Centurion Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 300mm f2.8, ISO 800, f/5, 1/1250 sec
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- I took this photograph in Namibia. Raw Namibia. I feel like this image really captures the moment of the elephant throwing up the dust, in an out-of–this-world environment. It incites such excitement in my heart that there are still places relatively wild and untouched. – By Charles David Brand, Cape Town Nikon D750, Nikkor 80-400mm, ISO 100, f/ 5, 1/250 sec
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- The sun was setting and we were heading home from a fairly disappointing game drive. We weren’t sure if it wasn’t worth stopping for a picture when we saw this giraffe, but I saw something, a glimmer of hope for a beautiful image. I can’t help but stare when I see that yellow light on the bushes. I was blown away by how beautiful the bushes looked in the foreground with the light shining on them. There is something so dreamy about shooting into the light with the movement of the bushes in the foreground. I was super happy with how this turned out. – By Charles David Brand, Cape Town Nikon D750, Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3, ISO 800, f/6.3, 1/640 sec
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- We found this male leopard early in the afternoon and decided to wait with him until the temperature started to cool down to see if he would move. The light started to dapple through the Jackalberry tree as the sun lowered, shafts of light moving as the wind brushed the leaves above. All we wanted was for him to raise his head. Then it happened, he raised his head in the dappled light and yawned … a magic moment. – By Etienne Oosthuizen, Nelspruit Canon 6D, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L, ISO 500, f/2.8, 1/200 sec
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- Scorpions tend to be nocturnal creatures not often seen during the day. So one night, I went in search of the arachnids. When exposed to ultraviolet, or UV, light at night, their exoskeletons glow a vibrant blue-green against the darkness. Using a tripod and cable release, and painting the scorpion with the UV light I photographed the creature as it glowed in the darkness. – By Johann Visser, Bloemfontein Canon 7D, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5, ISO 400, f/22, 1.3 sec
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- Early one morning in late spring, I took this image of a lioness resting on a sand dune as the sun rose to the east. I was fortunate to have a wonderful subject and wonderful Kalahari light when I took this image. Not long after I took this image, this lioness moved off with the other members of the pride into the red Kalahari dunes. I always try to take images at the level of the animal to portray their beauty and habitat and in this low point of view image I was able to achieve my objective. The image was taken in the Kalahari Transfrontier Park and close to Leeudril waterhole in the Nossob River valley. – By Mark Wiseman Constantia Nikon D4, Nikkor 600mm f/4, ISO 720, f/4, 1/1250 sec
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- This image was taken at Nambiti Private Game Reserve, Kwazulu-Natal, during one of our morning game drives in March 2016. Everything was enveloped in a heavy mist that slowly dissipated, revealing this lone wildebeest. I purposely edited it to give it a faux wetplate-like feel to it as the following quote came to mind: “…our souls may be consumed by shadows, but that doesn’t mean we have to behave as monsters.” – Emm Cole – By Ryan Connell, Durban D7000, Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3, ISO 560, f/5, 1/500 sec
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- The north coast of KZN contains some really interesting rock features. I am fascinated by how water moves around these rocks and I have tried to capture this motion in this image. – By Justin Pringle, Kloof Nikon D90, Nikon 10-24 mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/13 sec
