Africa Photographic Awards

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Nikon’s Africa Photographic Awards has hit the Photographic world by storm. Dubbed the “most lucrative photographic competition in the world” this competition with over R 3 000 000.00 ($ 300 000.00) is sure to attract the attention of the world’s top photographers. The photographer of the year is also chosen based on a portfolio of 12 images covering 9 diverse categories. Indeed a realistic reflection of true photographic skills.

The below image have been selected as a finalist in the Animal Portraits category and appear in the October issue of Africa Geographic magazine. Below is a brief description of my thoughts behind the image.

On safari I am often faced with the fact that the big stuff doesn’t show themselves and as a result I need to pull every trick out of the hat to ensure that guests still have a great time and are introduced to the innumerable other fascinating inhabitants of the bush. One of these insiders’ tricks is the ability to find chameleons at night. These are the most endearing of the reptiles and can be the best way to introduce guests to the otherwise “revolting” world of reptiles. For many years I have tried to capture that aspect of the bush but with, to say the least, uninspiring images to show this intriguing animal in context. I photographed this chameleon late one afternoon in the last rays of sunlight. As the sun set, I was about to pack it all in when a full moon rose behind the chameleon. I realised I might have a shot here. All I had to do was wait for the moon to rise sufficiently and I had this shot. I used a double exposure to ensure I get sufficient detail in both the Chameleon and the moon and I employed off camera flash to accentuate detail on the animal.