2012: Creative Visions - Winner
Klaus Nigge (Germany)
A swirl of flamingos
In winter, the 22-kilometre-long estuary of the Ría Celestún on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula attracts thousands of Caribbean flamingos, which congregate here to feed on the microscopic life in the shallow, briny water. These flamingos – the largest and pinkest of the five species – also use their time in the estuary to engage in synchronous courtship dancing as a prelude to breeding. To get the aerial shot that he wanted that would show the beauty of the mass aggregation of flamingos, with the birds appearing as if one organism, Klaus joined biologists on a regular flamingo count. ‘Taking images out of the door of a plane flying in narrow circles is a challenge,’ says Klaus. But lenses with image stabilisers helped overcome the vibration problem, and ‘the photography in this situation was all about capturing the beauty of pattern, form and colour.’
Nikon D3 + 70-200mm f2.8 lens at 200mm; 1/1600 sec at f5.6; ISO 250.
View other winners in this category
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Runner-up Sands of time David Maitland
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Specially Commended Light show Sandra Bartocha
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Commended The crack Rudi Sebastian
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Commended Positioning Hugo Wassermann
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