July brings on the annual ritual of agonising over images and trying to decide which, if any, to submit for the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year competition. This year I had a very limited number that I felt worth submitting as most of my work over the past 12 months has been outside of New Zealand so ineligible. It’s always hard to know what judges will like with previous images that I felt were good being ignored and subsequently recognised in international competition. One image of Hoiho/Yellow-eyed penguins that I had spent some time to achieve felt was a little different from what I have seen before, was worth entering, and has made it into the finals.
This is my fifth time as a finalist but more exciting is that it is the third time that Edin and I have been finalists together in a year, previously in 2016 and 2023. Still, I think, the only father/daughter pairing to achieve this. It is always fun to attend the awards night together and more so if we both have images in the exhibition. This year Edin is twice as good as me with 2 images chosen as finalists so hopefully this gives her a better chance of being recognised on the night. Last time we were finalists together we were unable to attend the awards as it clashed with our Otago Wildlife Masterclass which was a disappointment. It is usually the evening before we fly south for that but was moved at short notice to the following night when we were hosting our clients to dinner at Larnach Castle. During the meal we got the news that Edin had been awarded a Highly Commended for her intimate portrait of 2 Korora/Little Blue penguins.
Interestingly my image of penguins was taken while we were leading our Wildlife photography tour of the Catlins last October. We were busy doing this when the 2024 awards evening was being held. I am really fortunate to share special time with a daughter who shares my obsession with birds and photography. Shared adventures and experiences are more than twice as special!
You can see all the finalist images on the NZ Geographic site where you can add your vote for the People’s Choice award. I looking forward to seeing these images printed up large and on display in Auckland
Penguin photo with Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 180-600mm f6.3 + 1.4x teleconverter. Whitehead photo with iPhone 14 Pro.
