Your Camera: One of Nature’s Best Advocates

There is a moment when the stars align, and every nature photographer knows the feeling. You wait, you watch, and then, for one 1/2000^th of a second, the subject, the light and the composition line up. A good shot becomes a great one.

It can be a kind of meditation. Slowing down to watch what is actually in front of you is rare in a world of endless scrolling. Whether you’re strolling in your neighbourhood bush reserve or tramping through the high country, stopping to take a photo is another way to deepen your appreciation of the beauty and complexity of nature.

Most nature photos end up in the same place: a phone camera roll, or a scroll of likes on social media that feels good for a moment and is forgotten the next. Advocacy is a better use of these photos. Every shot of a fungus, a seal or a forest is evidence. It shows what still exists, what is at risk and why it matters. Pollinators, wetlands, the weather: all connected, all easy to forget. A photograph can put that connection back in front of someone who has never had reason to think about it. That is what this competition is really for. The prize is a bonus.

The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa New Zealand (TNC NZ) works alongside iwi, scientists, communities, government and leaders to protect the environments we depend on, and the species within them, here and around the world. That means freshwater, oceans, wetlands and native forests, and a serious push against climate change and biodiversity loss. The photo competition is one way we put Aotearoa New Zealand’s natural world in front of more people.

Two images from last year’s competition are excellent illustrations of great nature photography. Neither shows a tiger mid-leap or a remote Antarctic ice shelf. Both are simple and beautiful, and both work.

Tony Stoddard’s ‘Surface Tension’ is almost monotone: blue and grey, save for one yellow eye peering out from over a wing. That eye does the work. It sits dead centre, pulls your gaze straight into the frame and gives the misty background an air of mystery. The title says the rest. Tony and his subject, a New Zealand scaup (Pāpango), met eye to eye on Lake Tekapo, and the bird was keeping watch right back.

As Tony describes it: “A group of Pāpango floated nearby, barely disturbing the surface tension as they drifted in slow, hypnotic loops. One woke without lifting its head as it opened a single yellow eye, unimpressed. Message received.”

Scaup are Aotearoa New Zealand’s only diving duck. They can be seen on lakes and our diminishing wetlands, which offer some amazing photographic opportunities.

Kate Atkinson’s ‘Panitahi Breakfast’ captures sunrise from Taranaki maunga, built on the rule of thirds, with silhouetted people in the foreground giving way to the Central Plateau rising through the mist. People in the frame matter here. They remind us we are not separate from nature. We are part of it. Aotearoa is renowned for its maunga (mountains), which (along with many other landscapes) offer a paradise for nature photographers.

“We woke to a clear sunrise at Panitahi/Fanthams Peak on Mount Taranaki, so we took our breakfast as we watched the sun stream across New Zealand's North Island,’’ says Kate.

Nature photography has rules and etiquette. Cause no harm comes first. Disturbing nesting birds or getting too close to marine mammals is illegal, and it is unnecessary either way. Put the welfare of the species you are photographing ahead of the shot. Many of the best locations are sensitive ecosystems, so trampling protected plants or moving a gecko for a better angle is not good practice.

Judges are not looking for technical perfection or the rarest species in the frame. They are looking for a story. You do not need to trek into remote mountains or dive to great depths to find one. Some of the best entries come from a back garden, and you do not need expensive gear either. A phone photo is a fair entry, and it is not just about birds. What you need is a moment worth stopping for, and the patience to wait for it. So, get outside, put the phone down afterwards and enter what you find. Nature needs more people looking closely at it, and this contest is one of the best reasons to start.