Image of the Year selected by Andy Swain LRPS, CPAGB
Andy Swain LRPS, CPAGB last night (2nd June) selected ‘Is the Watehole Safe’ by Nick Lewis to be the NDPS ‘mage of the Year’.
Unfortunately due to the restrictions imposed by the UK Government regarding social distancing and gatherings during the current Covid-19 pandemic the competition was held virtually via Skype and was restricted to just a Digital category with the normal Print category being scrapped this year.
Andy had seen all the images for about a week ahead of the competition which enabled him to look at ‘high quality’ versions of each image and ensured that potential projection issues over the internet were eliminated on the night of the competition. With every member entitled to submit an image along with those that had qualified automatically via earlier rounds of the Photographer of the year competition Andy judged nearly 40 images.
Before starting to give his judgement on each image Andy said he had been impressed by a number of ‘striking’ images and on the general high standard of work submitted in the competition. However, as in all competitions there has to be a winner and so it proved…!
Is the Waterhole Safe...?
Nick Lewis took his winning photograph in the hides at the Zimanga Game Reserve which is situated around 8km north of the town of Mkuze in Northern Zululand, South Africa.
The reserve is home to more than 80 species of mammals, with populations of giraffe, buffalo, rhino, elephant, waterbuck, wildebeest, zebra, kudu, nyala, hippo, cheetah and lions.
Capturing the winning photo took patience - Nick was dropped off at the hide at 2pm in the afternoon and had to stay there all night before being picked up at 10am the following morning. The lioness eventually beinging her cub down to the waterhole in the early hours of the morning, after midnight.
Technical details: Canon EOS 6D Mk II, with EF50mm f1.4 lens on tripod. Focal length 50mm, 1/100sec, f2.0, ISO2,000.
The slideshow below shows the other close-contenders in this season’s IOTY competition:
Stunned by William Moore – Second (10 points)
The Gallery by Joan Jordan – Third (10 points)
Across Dark Waters by Bill Daniels – Fourth (10 points)
Ball Watching by William Moore (9.5 points)
Golden Cross by Gary Hagg (9.5 points)
Silent Reflections in the Rain by Adrian Richmond (9.5 points)
Sunset at the Shipwreck by Neil Hall (9,5 points)
Our thanks go to Andy Swain for his excellent judging of this competition and for his friendly and positive critique of each of the images entered.
