2400 images were entered in this year’s competition, from nearly 1000 different photographers. Yet, the ingredients of a winning image were immediately apparent to the judges. These were frames which relied on the vision of the photographer rather than the power of the software used to process them.
And from all of these entries, there emerged one clear winner. New Zealand Geographic would like to congratulate Richard Robinson, supreme winner at the 2010 Photographer of the Year awards.
“Every image that Richard submitted had almost perfect composition, an evident understanding of the subject before the lens, and attention to the way light was playing on the surfaces. These are the metrics of fine photography.” — James Frankham, Editor and Convenor of Judges.
Katrina Elton, who won the Young Photographer category, demonstrated skills across the range of subjects she submitted, in all categories, and in particular an attention to detail that is the hallmark of photographers with a good deal more experience.
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2010: RICHARD ROBINSON
ALL AWARDS:
Sir Edmund Hillary’s body is carried into the Holy Trinity Cathedral to lie in state the day before his formal funeral. On a day where New Zealand literally came to a stop I knew I needed to get a different angle, and found it in the choir.
Under close inspection there is so much beauty that photography brings to life that otherwise goes unnoticed, like dew resting on moss at Rainbow Falls.
At sunset on New Plymouth’s Back Beach, I stumbled upon a receding tide pattern making me stop in my tracks to shoot this beautiful scene.
I have tried on many occasions to capture the dawn with a hint of warmth and finally succeeded at the Te Anau jetty in a crisp autumn morning fog.
Cape Foulwind is a place of contrast, and the sometimes darkly beautiful weather that sweeps across it is inspiring.
Through the monotones of a clearing snowstorm near Tekapo, the landscape reveals winter colour.
Two trees in silhouette frame a boat against a blue twilight sky with Lake Alexandrina and the Southern Alps in the background.
A cold storm front passed over our place at Masterton leaving gorgeous, clean, sharp light in its wake and a perfect reflection in the pond. (Turn your head over)
I love the way the skink uses its environment to hide and keep watch, and how the ripples of the leaf follow the skinks tail down the photograph.
Little is known about false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) which predominantly live offshore, so I knew every frame had to count in this chance encounter.
A tui launches into flight before the Invercargill sun.
I photographed this kingfisher (or kotare) from inside a hide at Pouawa Marine Reserve, Gisborne. The sun lighting grasses in the background created a wonderful peach glow.
I found this robber fly on a barbed wire fence in Rotorua after a rain shower—it was still covered with raindrops.
Kaka have been breeding at the Karori Sanctuary since 2002. The birds are now spreading further afield and beginning to breed in bush around the Karori area.
There’s nothing more kiwi than a bonfire on the beach at Conway Flats.
During the Waitangi gathering, two boys sat on the top of a concrete memorial at Mt Maunganui and let the Tino Rangatiratanga flag fly.
I came across these children jumping off the fishing platform at the mouth of the Kaituna River, near Maketu, on a late summers afternoon while their parents fished for dinner.
It was a hard task getting seven-year-old Alexi to stand still during the two-second exposure required to capture the last remnants of daylight. However, when several small fish swam into the glowing torchlight, he stood transfixed and I got my shot.
Our five families have camped together for 12 years now at Elliots Bay, Northland, and the kids have grown up as one big family—with the younger ones looking up to the older ones who have always been there to help them.
A Cook Islander makes novel use of a wire supermarket shopping basket for harvesting sea-urchins, and then as a seat to stay dry while opening them on the reef.