Page 58 - Australian Photography Dec 2020

ELEONORA’S GIFT
BY ALBERTO FANTONI, ITALY
WINNER: RISING STAR PORTFOLIO
On the steep cliffs of a Sardinian island, a male Eleonora’s falcon brings his mate food – a small migrant, probably a lark, snatched from the sky
as it flew over the Mediterranean. These falcons
– medium-sized hawks – choose to breed on cliffs and small islands along the Mediterranean coast in late summer, specifically to coincide with the mass autumn migration of small birds as they cross the sea on their way to Africa. This falcon hunts at high altitudes, often far offshore, and takes a range of small birds on the wing, including nightingales and swifts. Outside of the
breeding season and on windless days,
when passing migrants are scarce,
the falcon feeds on large insects.
Canon 7D Mark II, 500mm f/4.5 lens. 1/2000s @ f7.1, ISO 800. +1 EV. Captured from a Hide.
THE GOLDEN MOMENT
BY SONGDA CAI, CHINA
WINNER: UNDERWATER
A tiny diamondback squid paralarva flits below in the blackness, stops hunting for an instant when caught in the light beam, gilds itself in shimmering gold and then moves gracefully out of the light. The beam was Songda’s, on a night-dive over deep water, far off the coast of Anilao, in the Philippines. He never knows what he might encounter
in this dark, silent world. All sorts of larvae and other tiny animals
– zooplankton – migrate up from the depths under cover of night to feed on surface-dwelling phytoplankton, and after them come other predators. The squid pictured was just a hatchling, but, like an adult, it propelled itself with undulations of its triangular fins, sprinting away when faced with danger. Special organs in a diamondback squid’s skin – chromatophores – contain sacs of pigment that allow the animal to change colour. Other organs can reflect and scatter light.
Nikon D850, 60mm f/2.8 lens. 1/200s @ f20, ISO 500. Seacam housing; Seaflash 150D strobes; Scubalamp lights.
SEE MORE OF THE WINNERS
The winners and finalists will be displayed at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum, London, before touring internationally to venues including Australia, in the new year. The 2021 edition of the competition is now open for entries at nhm.ac.uk/wpy/competition.
| 58 | DECEMBER 2020 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM