TOP JULY PICKS: Sunday Times Lifestyle/Green Life Photographer of the Year

TOP IMAGE: ‘COMPASS IN THE DARK’ – Peet J van Eeden from Welgemoed, Cape Town, is our Green Life Photographer of the Month. He captured this compass jellyfish at Atlantis Reef near Miller’s Point in False Bay. As July’s top photographer, he wins R5000 in cash, courtesy of the Sunday Times. He is now also in the running to become the Green Life Photographer of the Year, to be announced in December. Congratulations Peet!
HIGHLY COMMENDED: ‘DOUBLE VISION’ – “It's easy to see why lions get confused by the graphic mayhem of zebra stripes. Even with the hindsight of a stills image and long tele it's tricky focusing on which head belongs to which body,” says ‘Double Vision’ photographer Neil Bradfield.
HIGHLY COMMENDED: ‘WALKING THE SHORES’ – Isak Pretorius managed to capture these lesser flamingos at Kenya’s Lake Bogoria up close by disguising his camera with a blanket, sand and wet flamingo feathers, and setting off the shutter with a remote trigger.
READERS’ CHOICE: ‘TINY AND THE TITANS’ – As voted by Green Life’s fans on Facebook, July’s most popular reader image is Michael Price’s captivating depiction of an Addo elephant herd sheltering a calf. You can vote for our upcoming Readers’ Choice by visiting the latest competition gallery on www.facebook.com/stgreenlife and “liking” your top shots. The most popular images will be considered for the grand prizes at the end of the year.
MUTANT EYES – This image by Geraldine Mullon captures the insect world in all its colour, beauty and drama.
GHOST IN THE DARKNESS – Lion feeding on a zebra in the Makalali Private Game Reserve, Limpopo, in June. By Alistair Swartz.
WHOOOSH – Flying grey crowned crane, Botswana, by Dale Morris.
DANGEROUS CURVE – This leopard and two cubs had been sitting in a tree when the photographer, Eric Kohrs, came across them in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. “Mom jumped out the tree to show the cubs it was time to leave, but they weren’t interested – they were having great fun chasing each other from one branch to the next. So mom decided enough was enough, jumped back into the tree, pulled back her ears and growled at them to stop fooling around. They still didn’t take notice, so she grabbed one cub behind the neck and made her way to the ground. The other cub followed and they disappeared into the night.”
EYE OF THE ELEPHANT – “The intense intelligence and gentleness of the African elephant is most notable in their large, soulful eyes,” says well-known conservationist and documentarian Lesley Rochat of this picture, which she took in the Kruger National Park.
PIG-HEADED CAT – Mike Miller stumbled across this extraordinary scene in Londolozi Game Reserve. It depicts a young male leopard “watching two massive warthog boars fighting – an insanely aggressive territorial battle for land and ladies.” According to Miller, the warthogs sussed the leopard out before continuing to fight. “I’m certain they realised he wasn’t a mature leopard and, as such, not a threat. The warthogs continued to fight and the young leopard continued to follow them around,” says Miller.
PLAIN DAISY – Ann Donnelly reveals the exuberant beauty of a fuchsia daisy in this image, taken in a Centurion garden in January.
WAVED OFF – “Moments after taking this shot at Umhlanga Rocks in June, I had to do a rapid back-pedalling manoeuvre – with a tripod in one hand and camera bag in the other – to avoid being taken out by a rogue wave,” says the photographer, Neville Bailey.
HAPLESS LITTLE HIPPO – “Watching a herd of elephants on the bank of the Chobe river near Kasane, Botswana, a young hippo decided to walk from the water and join them. The elephants were obviously not impressed with the arrogance of this little hippo,” explains the photographer, Peet Marais.
CUB REPORTER – Sandra Roniger-Hughes observed this leopard cub and its mother for about two hours in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. The result was this special shot.
LIGHT FOR SORE EYES – The shimmering outline of a chameleon, captured by Gary Parker. “I was playing with different effects of light on (the) subject,” he says.
THREE HEADS – A “three-headed” giraffe in the Pilanesberg National Park. By Sandra McGowan.
FADING SPECIES – A dramatic abstract image of two white rhinos in the Kruger National Park near Pretoriuskop in June. By Eric Kohrs.
THE SMILING LION – “This was taken in the Okavango Delta in the rainy season. Everything was very green. There were a lot of animals everywhere. Lots of food for lions, hence the smile,” says Dale Morris, the photographer, of this delightful shot.
THREE OF A KIND – White-fronted bee-eaters catching food for their youngsters at the Crocodile River near Brits. Says Stuart Bowie: “At any one time, there was at least one bee-eater perched on the root. When three perched, I waited for the right moment to capture all three looking the same way, and each with food in their beaks.”
WINDS OF CHANGE – As well as wildlife and landscape images, the Sunday Times Lifestyle/Green Life Photographer of the Year Awards are also open to images of interesting developments in green living. This image, by Richard Adcock, depicts Klipheuwel’s wind turbines. “Man-made objects in the landscape, like these wind turbines outside Cape Town, are going to become a more common feature in the future. We’ll have to wait and see if they’re welcomed by all. Some feel they are a blight on the landscape, others objects of beauty and necessity – you decide!”
FANTASTICAL FEATHERS – Cape Gannet, Pringle Bay, by Lauren Geldenhuys. “This was the first time I had seen a Cape gannet. I was astounded how beautiful they are up close.”
SHY AS A FOX – Cape foxes are notoriously shy and mostly nocturnal, making this image by Les Crookes – taken in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in October – extra special. Here two Cape fox pups are seen playing outside their den in the late afternoon.
SWAMP CREATURE – This image of a brown-backed tree frog, found a metre off the ground in a wetland near St Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal– was submitted by top herpetologist Johan Marais. Image by Johan Marais and Pierre van Ryneveld.
CHILD SUPPORT – Just about the “safest place on earth for this young cub to witness another African morning. I came across this amazing pride of 11 lions just outside Satara Rest Camp, Kruger – a real warm and fuzzy sighting,” explains photographer Neil Bradfield.
WHAT NOW? – Mike Walsh, May’s Green Life Photographer of the Month, says of this funny moment in nature: “While a blue-headed agama lizard was catching and eating butterflies in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, one landed right on its face. The agama didn't know what to do.”
MIRROR MIRROR – Cheetah brothers, Tshukudu Game Lodge, Hoedspruit. By Chris Siebert.
REVENGE IS TWEET – A stand-off at a watering facility between a Cape white-eye and double-collard sunbird in a Camps Bay garden. The white-eye, however, “wasn't prepared to give up his position to the sunbird too hastily”. By Greg Botoulas.
GOLDEN SMOKE – Explaining the gorgeous golden light in this photo, photographer Russell Maclaughlin says: “As the buffalo herd stampeded off, a mother and calf were left behind, waiting for the dust to settle." The image was taken near Mopani Rest Camp, Kruger National Park.