2020 Nikon Surf Photo and Video of the Year Award winners announced
Nikon Australia has revealed the winners of the 2020 Nikon Surf Photo and Video of the Year Awards, with WA photographer Ren McGann winning first place for his image ‘The Right’ taken off the coast of Western Australia.
Andrew Kaineder also took home first prize in the video category of the competition for his piece, ‘Flow State’.
Speaking to Australian Photography, McGann told us the process behind how he captured his winning image.
McGann started out in surf photography and has found that over time he has become increasingly interested in improving his ability to capture images of the breaking surf. For McGann, there is something unique about deep water waves.
“The blue is like nothing else you’ve ever seen, the colours are just insane,” McGann told AP.
As for selecting the image which went on to become the winning photograph for the 2020 competition, McGann employs a few criteria for choosing the best images from a shoot. On the day he shot the winning image, he had taken about 3,000 photographs, so when narrowing down his selection, he looked for images that had the best potential for editing.
McGann says he looks at a combination of elements, such as the subject matter, composition, colour and contrast of the photographs, and uses dodging and burning in post production, so an image with strong highlights and shadows is important.
The judging panel for the 2020 competition was made up of 10 high-profile individuals from within the surfing industry, including Nikon Brand Ambassador and seven-time World Surfing Champion, Stephanie Gilmore.
On judging the works, Gilmore said, “As a photographer myself, I was inspired by the calibre of entries which really demonstrated the unique, creative approach to capturing our beautiful ocean.”
Ren McGann takes home a Nikon Z 6 kit as his prize for his winning photograph, and Andrew Kaineder a Nikon Z 7 for his winning video.
In light of the current pandemic, the annual Surfing Australia Awards will take place as a televised event this year. You can tune in to see McGann and Kaineder receive their awards for the 2020 competition on the Nikon website.
You can see the other finalists for the photography category below:
