Tour Leader Awards

Elliott’s stunning image of two adult Bengal tigers leaping into a waterhole with a huge splash, won him his first award in a major competition, a highly commended in the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 2005.

Greg’s image titled ‘Crossing Frenzy’ received honors in the Nature in Black & White category, in the 2009 Veolia BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest.  A record 43 000 entries were received that year from no fewer than 94 different countries.

Greg’s image titled “Golden Forest Rhino” received honors in the Gerald Durrell category for Endangered Wildlife, in the 2010 Veolia BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

David’s image titles ‘A Flick of a Tail’ was specially commended in the 2011 WPOTY awards in the Black and White Category.

The image of a male lion covered in blood won a certificate in the Animals General category of the Fujifilm Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008.

Marius’s image of a cheetah cub, painted golden in the late afternoon sunlight, was awarded a certificate in the Animals General category of the 2008 Fujifilm Getaway Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Marius’s image titled “Golden Tusk” won the 1st Runner Up in the Abstract category in the 2009, Fujifilm Wildlife Photographer of the Year, in the Abstract category.

The image of two lioness starring into the distance won Marius a certificate in the animals general category of the Fujifilm Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 2009.

Marius’s image of an African Wild Dog hunting impala won a certificate in the Animals General category of the Fujifilm Getaway Wildlife Photographer of the Year,2009.

The Getaway Gallery is a monthly competition hosted by the Getaway Magazine based out of Cape Town. The winning images published each month are selected for the final round of annual judging. Being the oldest public photographic competition on the continent, the gallery is celebrating its 21st birthday this year! Over the years, the competition has drawn creative entries from across Africa and this year three of Greg’s images placed in the top ten. He is also thrilled to have clinched 1st place and the grand prize for 2009.

Another image captured whilst guiding for ORYX in Tanzania! We had been been photographing Ndutu’s Large Marsh pride as they enjoyed their morning sun-bathing session. The pride male was sitting in a lofty vantage point and then walked down to join his family and approached a cub sitting alone. Anticipating what might be, I framed the shot with the cub on the left and waited for the huge male to enter. The lioness approached the pride male and nuzzled him. In a split second, the cub had snarled at the pride male, the male snarled back, the lioness smacked him (no claws) with a paw and the male had smacked her back. It was all over in nine frames – literally one second!

Another first… this Northern Fulmar was photographed during my first ever visit to Spitsbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago in 2009. We were heading for Edgeøya, an island and polar bear denning area on the eastern side of the Archipelago. The additional time at sea, provided more opportunities to perfect my ‘bird in flight with reflection’ shots. For open sea, it was incredible how calm the water can be. As you can see from the shot, the ice flow removes all the ‘chop’ from the surface and it became beautifully silky and glossy.

During a photographic safari to the Masai Mara in November 2010, we came across a cheetah and cub, on the east side of Rhino Ridge. The mother (Mrembo) had spotted a tommy fawn wandering on its own, a death sentence on these plains. Mrembo trotted over and, almost nonchalantly, grabbed the fawn by the neck and throttled it, but did not kill it. Quite playfully, her cub trotted over to inspect the meal and seemed a bit bemused why it was still kicking. Mrembo immediately released the fawn and it sprang away. Out of pure instinct, the cub gave chase and flattened the fawn with this trip.

Quickly becoming one of my most favorite lion images, this is the shot that lead me to the decision to switch to Nikon. The light was poor, the ISOs high, but the image was still clean and punchy.

I photographed this scene whilst leading a guided safari in Northern Tanzania with ORYX. I think it has that ‘once in a blue moon’ quality with the lion’s sphinx-like repose, the stunning gun-metal blue sky and crater wall, and the shafts of light. I couldn’t help but write about this experience in my Practical Photography column!

Photographed during one of my ORYX photographic expedition to the Svalbard Archipelago, I think this represents a bit of a break from the norm for me – a moody and atmospheric rookery. The location is Alkefjellet, a several kilometre long, sheer-sided cliff with hundreds of thousands of nesting guillemots. The sound has to be heard to be believed! It was simply astonishing. I asked our zodiac driver to switch of the engine for a few minutes so that we could all hear the immensity of the avian din!

My first ever trek to the gorillas produced this cute ‘through the foliage’ shot of an inquisitive baby. She was most interested in our group as we slipped and stumbled over the foliage! We hiked over three hours and up to 10,500ft to see the Susa Group, but every step and every drop of sweat was totally worth it!

Dale was awarded in the Media24 Magazine Excellence awards 2011. Competing with more than 60 magazines, Dale won both Best Cover of any magazine as well as Best Visual’s for any magazine.

As a leader in capturing our world through brilliant imagery, National Geographic sets the standard for photographic excellence. This year’s entrants did not disappoint—more than 20,000 photographs were submitted to the contest from over 130 countries, with professional and amateur photographers across the globe participating. Photographs were submitted in three categories: people, places, and nature. Marius’s image titled ‘Panic in the Pan’ was awarded an honorable mention in the nature category.
 

Elliott Neep’s image of the wildebeest migration in Kenya got awarded honors in the African animals category in the Nature’s Best Photographic Awards.

The Nature’s Best Photography Awards are hosted by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. The competition celebrates the beauty and diversity of nature through the art of photography. Greg’s image titled ‘Maasai Enigma’ received honors in the 2009 Nature’s Best competition, in the Indigenous Cultures category

The Nature’s Best Photography Awards are hosted by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. The competition celebrates the beauty and diversity of nature through the art of photography. Elliott’s image titled “Olive Baboons” received honors in the 2011 Nature’s Best competition.

The Nature’s Best Photography Awards are hosted by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. The competition celebrates the beauty and diversity of nature through the art of photography. Greg’s image titled ‘Dandylion’  received honors in the 2011 Nature’s Best competition.

The Nature’s Best Photography Awards are hosted by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. The competition celebrates the beauty and diversity of nature through the art of photography. Greg’s image titled “Golden Forest Rhino” received honors in the 2011 Nature’s Best competition.

Adam’s image titled ‘Orcas Hunting’ got awarded with a Top 50 place in the 2011 Oceans of Life photographic competition.

Marius’s image titled ‘Chinstraps on Blue Ice’ was awarded highly commended in the 2011 Oceans of Life Photographic awards.