Here they are: the 2019 winners!
Africa’s premier photographic competition
FIRST PRIZE Watching You, Watching Me
This is one of the best leopard sightings I almost never had. We were driving around the Okavango Delta when my guide, Robi, paused next to a photogenic sausage tree. While I was admiring the huge hollow at the top of it, he was having a closer look with his binoculars. Robi had noticed claw marks on the bark, and figured that a female leopard he hadn’t seen for a while might be inside nursing cubs. Sure enough, there she was, playing hide and seek.
By Clare Doolan, Botswana
Canon 7D Mkii, Canon EF 100-400mm,
ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/640 sec
See page 50 for more about this photographer, her prize and the judges’ comments.
JUSTIN Congratulations Clare! This is a chance-ina-million shot. Beautifully captured, superbly framed with a lovely contrast of leopard spots and bark texture. It conveys a powerful moment, spiced with danger.
Teagan This image has such a captivating, eerie feeling to it, subliminal at first but the more you look at the leopard’s eye, within the gap, the more that feeling is enhanced. This is an unusual, striking image with emotional depth.
Well timed and well captured, Clare!
Louise My gaze returns again and again to that bright eye of the leopard. It’s contemplating, yet challenging. There’s a perfect balance in the symmetrical composition and finely rendered lighting of textures. This subtle combination has created a very powerful image. Gareth This graphically framed moment is just awesome – the dappled light on the textured bark draws your eye towards
this ominous subject. Her piercing blue eye staring at you gives such a sense of power and keeps bringing my attention back to the leopard, making it such a strong image.