Best of Getaway Gallery

AcknowledgementsThe sheer magnitude of the task of putting together a photographic collection like Best of Getaway Gallery makes for an extensive list of acknowledgements. But to start, fi rst and foremost, a huge thanks to all the photographers who brave hot and cold, rain and shine, early mornings and late nights to capture the unbelievable pictures that are submitted to Getaway every month. It’s their dedication to their art, and their determination to capture these fl eeting moments of beauty, that has produced the fantastic images that appear in this book.

As always, the team at Getaway magazine has worked long and hard to pull this col-lection together. The seemingly simple task of choosing the most beautiful, or most intriguing, or most amazing of the submit-ted photographs is given some perspective when considering that more than 500 images are received every month, and that this collection is a showcase of the past seven years of Gallery winners. Thanks to Dylan Kotze for managing the selection process, without your efforts this would have been an impossible task. Thanks also to Marisa Steyn for not only helping to choose the best images, but for the superb design work and fi ne eye for placing the pictures selected, and to Claire Reddie and Sarah Keevy for their careful editing of the text. As always Jacqueline Lahoud, our publisher, and Sue Walker, our production manager, gave unfailing support. Without this support projects of this nature would be impossible; plus they keep us in line in the offi ce.

Best of Getaway Gallery would not have been possible without the experience and assistance of the good people at our pub-lishing partners, Jacana Media, namely Pete van der Woude, Bridget Impey and Kerrie Barlow.

Cameron Ewart-SmithEditor Getaway

SubmissionsWe hope that the images in this book inspire you to pick up your camera and work harder at your travel and wildlife photography. We’d love to see the results appearing in our Gallery competition.

To submit images:1. Email submissions to [email protected]. Digital submissions are preferred.2. Any image shot in Africa or its islands is eligible for Getaway Gallery.3. No more than fi ve entries a month.4. Images should be resized to approx-imately 1MB in size.5. Submit your camera make, model, lens, camera settings and any other applicable information.6. Give your photograph a title and describe in no more than 100 words how you got the shot.

For more information visit the website at www.getaway.co.za.

9 781431 402618

ISBN 978-1-4314-0261-8 www.jacana.co.za

‘One would normally say that a book of this quality is a page-turner, but this one is not. The wonderful images make you linger . . .’ - Roger de la Harpe

BGG DUSTJACKET FINAL.indd 1 2011/09/15 1:57 PM

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Jacana Media Pty Ltd10 Orange StreetSunnyside2092Johannesburg

in association with Getaway Books (a division of RamsayMedia Pty Ltd)3 Howard Drive Pinelands7405Cape Town First published in 2011Copyrights © in photographs: individual photographers as listed on page 144Copyrights © in published edition: RamsayMedia

Publishers | Jacqueline LahoudEditor | Cameron Ewart-SmithArt Director | Maryanne CruikshanksSub-editor | Claire Reddie, Sarah KeevyProduction Manager | Sue WalkerPhotographic research | Dylan KotzeDesigner | Marisa Steyn

Printed and bound by Craft Print, SingaporeISBN: 978-1-4314-0261-8

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the copyright owners.

DUST JACKET FRONT: ‘Giraffe landscape’ by Marco Franchini, Durban

Canon 20D, 300 mm f4 L lens.

By snapping this giraffe from far away, I was able to leave enough space to place the animal in a wide landscape composition, as

opposed to just another giraffe portrait.

DUST JACKET BACK: ‘Photographing the tunnel’ by Emil von Maltitz, Durban

Nikon D700, 18 – 35 mm f3.5 – 4.5 lens on a tripod with a polariser.

The tunnel at the end of the Tugela Gorge walk always fascinates me with its incredible colours. The overcast conditions on this trip meant that

the colours in the tunnel were even more prominent. Another photographer moved forward and while he photographed up the tunnel I noticed the

bright T-shirt and its incredible contrast against the sandstone walls.

FRONT COVER: ‘Loneliness’ by Morkel Erasmus, Secunda

Canon 1000D, 18 – 55 mm IS lens.

On an atypically quiet day in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, I was longing to capture an animal against the backdrop of the wonderful cirrus

clouds that streaked the sky as if swept by a broom. As we got close to Urikaruus Wilderness Camp, this lone blue wildebeest stumbled onto the crest of a calcrete ridge and I got my shot. I immediately knew this would

be great as a black and white image.

TITLE PAGE: ‘Resting Trunk’ by Keith Young, Cape Town

Minolta Dynax 505si, Sigma 170 – 500 mm lens, Fujichrome Sensia 400 fi lm and a beanbag.

While watching a small group of elephants crowded into a very small, shallow and muddy waterhole at Carol’s Rest in the Addo Elephant National

Park, I patiently waited for something to happen. A jackal and a few warthogs continually scurried around, looking for an opportunity to drink. I spotted

this young elephant being hemmed in and it seemingly had nowhere to put its trunk. I managed only this one shot.

HALF TITLE PAGE: ‘Young lions’ by Kerry Wright, Knysna

Canon EOS 20D, 400 mm lens.

On safari in Schotia Private Game Reserve near Port Elizabeth, I captured this pair of lions in typical sibling behaviour.booksGetaway

Best of Getaway Gallery SEC1.indd 2 2011/09/15 2:12 PM

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INTRODUCTIONIf you ask any of the photographers who have worked at Getaway over the past 22 years they will all agree that judging Getaway Gallery is the high-light of the month. What started in 1989 as a simple idea – a space for our readers to share their best travel and wildlife images – has developed over the years to become the foremost African travel and wildlife photography competition in South Africa . . . if not the world. Every month we receive nearly 500 entries from more than 100 photographers; but only the very, very best make it to the pages of the Getaway magazine and website. The most amazing thing about Gallery, from a photographic point of view, is that nearly all the images submitted are taken by pure amateur enthusiasts.Although it must be said that it has helped launch several of the big names in South African photography circles along the way.

The nature of publishing has changed over the years and these days far more attention is paid to what the industry calls user-generated content. To us at Gallery, it is even more fundamental than that. Ultimately, a travel brand such as Getaway should not be judged by the quality of its own stories and pictures (although these are critical), but rather by the stories and pictures that our readers bring back from their adventures. After all, if we do our job right our readers will have a better quality of life, with more regular holidays in never-thought-of-before places. By that stand-ard then, Getaway Gallery sets the tone, and is the culmination of, the shared memories and moments of our readers.

The competition has seen many changes, including the transition from the (good-old) days of fi lm to the new technologies of digital photography, which was initially problematic for many photographers. The great thing about this change, however, is that it has made photography accessible, with more people taking more images than ever before. But one thing has remained constant in our judges’ minds: only photographs of the highest calibre are chosen. Our philosophy has always been to celebrate photo-graphic excellence, so to be included in our pages is an affi rmation that the photographer has taken one of the best images in the country.

This book follows on in this spirit and is a selection of the best of the very best that South African travel and wildlife photography has to offer. The images chosen here represent the work of 90 photographers and are a true refl ection of the incredible talent we have in South Africa. All that remains to be said, and we say it nearly every month, ‘Boy I wish I’d taken some of these incredible images!’

‘Carmine duel’ by Fritz Hoogendijk, Pretoria

Canon 1D Mk IV, EF 400 mm f2.8 L IS lens with a 1.4 teleconverter.

Two carmine bee-eaters at a breeding colony on the banks of the Zambezi River. These little guys are pretty fast so I was delighted to get this shot.



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‘Augrabies Falls’ by Elmar Venter, Pretoria

Canon EOS 50D, 17 – 40 mm f4 L USM lens.

South Africa is truly a country of splendour. This is particularly evident when the Orange River pushes 1,9 million litres of water a second over massive granite boulders at the Augrabies Falls. This

picture was taken in February 2010. After travelling 1 100 kilometres to reach the falls, the late afternoon light did not disappoint.


16

‘The magnificent feast’ by Lesley Rochat, Cape Town

Nikon D700, 14 – 24 mm lens in a SeaCam housing with two YS120 Sea and Sea strobes.

The challenges of this shot of a sardine run were many: the bait ball was about 10 x 10 metres, so I had to sink down in order to frame the whole ball. Because of cloudy weather, there was little light at 13 metres below the surface. In addition, the water was full of particles from the feeding. I chose to push my ISO to 800 to ensure I could use the highest f-stop possible and still control my strobes to prevent overexposing the silver fish. The moment was captured just as the shark swam through, with enough depth of field and a moody shower of light.


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‘I’m watching you’ by Rainer von Brandis, Langebaan

Nikon D200, Nikkor 12 – 24 mm f4 lens, SB600 flash and a circular polariser.

I came across this mangrove crab while walking the shore of a small island in the Amirantes, Seychelles. Relying on its large defensive claws, it opted not to flee. This

gave me the opportunity to get down low in front of it, have the light behind me and snap some shots before it went down its hole.


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‘Wind’ by Jason Prince, Port Alfred

Canon 7D, 300 mm f4 IS lens.

This male lion, which I saw near Kichaka Lodge, Eastern Cape, was resting in long grass on a day when the light

didn’t offer much and the wind was blowing a gale. To add excitement, I converted this image to sepia and used a

slow shutter speed to blur the grass and the lion’s mane.


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‘How different are we?’ by Sean O’Beirne, Johannesburg

Canon 20D, 100 – 400 mm lens.

We were watching some baboons on the Sabie River causeway in the Kruger National Park, when one placed its hands on the Armco railing. With his head in the background, it provided for an interesting shot. I made the print black and white to hide the awful green railing and to make the picture a bit surreal and eerie.


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‘Dawn from the Witches’ by Emil von Maltitz, Durban

Nikon D700, 18 – 35 mm f3.5 – 4.5 lens and with two-stop ND filter on a tripod.

An hour’s early morning climb to the Witches’ viewpoint below Sentinel Peak in the Northern Drakensberg allowed me to position myself and watch the sunrise. The massive

contrast between the valleys and the empty sky forced me to shoot multiple exposure shots and blend them together in Photoshop. Even with this HDR technique, I still

used a two-stop neutral density filter to tone down the bright sky.


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‘Camera-shy lion’ by Jan Kolbé, Bloemfontein

Canon EOS 7D, 100 – 400 mm lens and a beanbag.

I photographed this lion in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park near Mata Mata. He was hiding behind his paw as if he was camera shy. It was a very special moment.


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‘Kite spider weaves a masterpiece’ by Nicholas Whittall, Johannesburg

Canon 50D, 70 – 300 mm L lens.

As I returned from a breakfast photo shoot at Lake Panic in the Kruger National Park, I noticed this brightly coloured spider mas-terfully weaving its web. I spent a fair bit of time photographing this captivating sight and, as the light streamed through the dense foli-age, I was treated to the illumination of the spider and its creation.


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‘Cold-front blues’ by Hougaard Malan, Stellenbosch

Canon 5D Mk II, Zeiss Distagon 18 mm lens with a Lee 0.6 hard graduated ND filter and a Lee Big Stopper 10-stop solid ND filter.

After six weeks of blue skies in the middle of winter, the Cape was finally hit with a barrage of cold fronts. This shot of Cape Town’s Twelve Apostles was taken about 90 minutes before sunset with filters to ensure a long and balanced exposure.


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‘Butterfly dew’ by Greg du Toit, Pretoria

Nikon D200, Nikkor 105 mm macro lens.

One morning in southern Tanzania, there was a lot of dew – so much so that the roosting butterflies were covered in water droplets and unable to fly until well after sunrise. This presented a wonderful photographic opportunity.


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‘Standing-tall leopard’ by Craig McFarlane, Hoedspruit

Canon 20D, 500 mm f4 lens.

This young male leopard watched his sister try to catch her first duiker. I managed to capture him standing in this rather unusual pose.


133

‘Road block’ by Ross Couper, Durban

Canon EOS 1D Mk III, 600 mm lens.

As luck would have it, on our last day in the Kruger National Park, a pride of lions was warming up on the tar road between Lower

Sabie and Skukuza camps. We had not seen any sign of lions during our visit – until they came to bid us farewell.


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Index of photographersSharon Albert – page 61Stuart Apsey – page 27Riaan Beekman – page 24Kurt Jay Bertels – page 66, 77, 129, 138Tinus Beyers – page 109Dr Haggis Black – page 103, 141Louis Boezaart – page 62Stuart Bowie – page 114, 126Rodnick biljon – page 107Seyms Brugger – page 130Trevor Butler – page 70Mike cary – page 91Anthony Catt – page 44 Chad Cocking – page 42, 72, 115Liam Cornell – page 85Ross Couper – page 52, 133Chris Daly – page 64, 123Burkhard Dobiey – page 78Greg du Toit – page 37, 56, 59, 67, 68, 75, 96, 97, 101, 120, 128Morkel Erasmus – Front CoverMelonie Eva – page 106Terry February – page 84Emmanuel Fernandes Viveiros – page 6Devin alexander finaughty – page 86Marco Franchini – Dust jacket FrontErich Fuls – page 131Lauren Geldenhuys – page 144 Richard Grant – page 142Fred Hasner – page 121, 125Fritz Hoogendijk – page 5, 38 Luc Hosten – page 9gary hughes – page 140Bryan Jarmain – page 63Cathy Kays – page 58Craig Kerr – page 28Eva Kessel – page 122Johan Kloppers – page 102Jan Kolbé – page 25 Rayne Layfield – page 35Francois Loubser – page 60, 99, 118, 132Johann Mader – page 14Hougaard Malan – page 40Arno Marais – page 49, 79, 98, 127Craig McFarlane – page 110

Shaun McMinn – page 104Ben McRae – page 111Mario Milani – page 50Mike Miller – page 92Sibyl Morris – page 87Sean O’Beirne – page 20PeDee Oosthuizen – page 51Dr Neil Overy – page 76Eric Palmer – page 108Leon Pelser – page 57, 119Peter Pinnock – page 55Dean Polley – page 47Isak Pretorius – page 41, 124Jason Prince – page 19Monia raupert – page 22Lesley Rochat – page 16Alwyn Roets – page 88Jan Roode – page 69Jay Roode – page 10, 29Daniel Sanderson – page 31Paul Schweizer – page 82Lee Slabber – page 33, 89, 93, 95, 112, 113, 116, 135, 136Jack Smith – page 15Geoff Spiby – page 81David steyn – page 43Werner Steyn – page 100Jacques Strydom – page 8Lorne Sulcus – page 137James Suter – page 32Francois Theron – page 139Kobus Tollig – page 73, 90Eugene Troskie – page 12, 45Wynand van der Merwe – page 48Vida van der Walt – page 36Wynand van Wyk – page 7Susan van Zuilekom – page 71, 80 Elmar Venter – page 13Eugene Viljoen – page 65Hein Viljoen – page 54Rainer von Brandis – page 17Lanz von Hörsten – page 134Emil von Maltitz – page 21, 34, Dust jacket BackHannes Vos – page 23Nicholas Whittall – page 26Kerry Wright – Half title pageKeith Young – Title page

‘Roley’ by Lauren Geldenhuys, Cape Town

Canon EOS 400D, 18 – 55 mm lens.

Donkeys are such comical animals. They are mischievous and cheeky, but ultimately they are adorable. I took this when I was living on a farm. One evening I heard the donkeys racing around my cottage, but when I went outside they ran away. I followed them up the hill and took this shot of Roley, who posed beautifully in between moments of dancing around and kicking dirt into the air.


AcknowledgementsThe sheer magnitude of the task of putting together a photographic collection like Best of Getaway Gallery makes for an extensive list of acknowledgements. But to start, fi rst and foremost, a huge thanks to all the photographers who brave hot and cold, rain and shine, early mornings and late nights to capture the unbelievable pictures that are submitted to Getaway every month. It’s their dedication to their art, and their determination to capture these fl eeting moments of beauty, that has produced the fantastic images that appear in this book.

As always, the team at Getaway magazine has worked long and hard to pull this col-lection together. The seemingly simple task of choosing the most beautiful, or most intriguing, or most amazing of the submit-ted photographs is given some perspective when considering that more than 500 images are received every month, and that this collection is a showcase of the past seven years of Gallery winners. Thanks to Dylan Kotze for managing the selection process, without your efforts this would have been an impossible task. Thanks also to Marisa Steyn for not only helping to choose the best images, but for the superb design work and fi ne eye for placing the pictures selected, and to Claire Reddie and Sarah Keevy for their careful editing of the text. As always Jacqueline Lahoud, our publisher, and Sue Walker, our production manager, gave unfailing support. Without this support projects of this nature would be impossible; plus they keep us in line in the offi ce.

Best of Getaway Gallery would not have been possible without the experience and assistance of the good people at our pub-lishing partners, Jacana Media, namely Pete van der Woude, Bridget Impey and Kerrie Barlow.


SubmissionsWe hope that the images in this book inspire you to pick up your camera and work harder at your travel and wildlife photography. We’d love to see the results appearing in our Gallery competition.

To submit images:1. Email submissions to [email protected]. Digital submissions are preferred.2. Any image shot in Africa or its islands is eligible for Getaway Gallery.3. No more than fi ve entries a month.4. Images should be resized to approx-imately 1MB in size.5. Submit your camera make, model, lens, camera settings and any other applicable information.6. Give your photograph a title and describe in no more than 100 words how you got the shot.

For more information visit the website at www.getaway.co.za.

9 781431 402618

ISBN 978-1-4314-0261-8 www.jacana.co.za

‘One would normally say that a book of this quality is a page-turner, but this one is not. The wonderful images make you linger . . .’ - Roger de la Harpe

BGG DUSTJACKET FINAL.indd 1 2011/09/15 1:57 PM

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Best of Getaway Gallery