Winning shot taken by ‘wildlife photographer at top of his game’

An eagle-eyed photographer from Dunedin has won the Otago Wildlife Photography Competition for the second time — capturing one of New Zealand’s most elusive birds.

• Wildlife photography competition slideshow

The winners of the competition were officially announced on Saturday. Retired software developer Craig McKenzie was declared the overall winner of this year’s competition as well as winning the animal photography category for people 15 years old or over.

His work is  being displayed at the Otago Museum alongside a selection of the 2385 photographs entered in the competition. His photograph,  entitled "Kakariki karaka",  was described in judges’ comments as a beautiful, understated work "from a wildlife photographer at the top of his game".

Mr McKenzie said he had to travel to Hawdon Valley in Arthur’s Pass to take a picture of his subject.

"New Zealand Geographic wanted some photos, and foolishly I said yes," Mr McKenzie said.

Kakariki karaka are only found in Canterbury and the Hawdon, Poulter and Hurunui Valleys, and fewer than 300 individuals are thought to be left.

Assisted by Department of Conservation parakeet workers, Mr McKenzie eventually  got  close enough to a kakariki karaka to take a photograph of the bird, captured against the soft green background of dense bush. 

"They just hid in the trees and wouldn’t come out. Then they got a bit used to us," he said.

Otago Museum marketing manager Charlotte Neilson said Mr McKenzie  captured the vulnerability of the bird, and it was impressive he had been able to take a picture of such a rare animal.

The picture was "just gorgeous" and the calibre of  the photos in the competition grew each year, Ms Neilson said. Next year would be the 20th year the competition had been held. Mr McKenzie said he took the photograph with a Nikon camera, using a 600mm lens. He began taking pictures of birds many years ago, because he wanted  a hobby that would keep him close to home. However, the more birds he photographed, the further he had to travel in order to capture something new, he said.

He had been entering the competition at the Otago Museum for 12 years, and won the competition in 2006, the first year he entered, with a picture of godwits. Winning a second time felt "quite good", he said.

"It shows that the first time wasn’t a fluke, really."

His favourite birds to photograph were rock wrens, but he thought that was to do with the habitat they lived in. He would put his prize,  a Canon EOS 77D camera,

to good use with his new hobby, photographing insects, which he described as fascinating. The Otago Wildlife Photography Competition exhibition will be running at the museum until mid-July. 

- Elena McPhee