The Canon/Africa Geographic photo competition is back! If you’re a game ranger, a safari guide or a lodge owner or manager, send us your best wildlife photographs (maximum two per month) and you could be judged the winner of a monthly prize of a Canon Powershot SX30 IS digital camera – and become a finalist for the grand prize, a Canon EOS 7D camera body with standard zoom lens plus the new EF 70–300 mm f4–5.6L IS USM lens, which will be awarded for the best photograph overall. Our judges this year are Tim Jackson, Steve & Ann Toon, and Dale Morris.

Monthly Prize
The Canon PowerShot SX 30 IS is a digital compact camera with a 35x ultra wide-angle zoom lens that makes it ideal for wildlife photography. A 4.5-stop image stabiliser ensures sharp im-ages even in low-light conditions, and the option of full manual controls enables you to express your creativity. Valued at R4 299.

Grand Prize
The Canon EOS 7D digital SLR camera offers performance and versatility, with an 18-megapixel sensor, 8 fps shooting, an ISO range up to 12 800 for photographing in low light, and full HD 1080 video recording. The EF 70–300 mm f4–5.6L IS USM lens is a high-performance telephoto zoom lens with image stabiliser that ensures high picture quality at all focal lengths. Together valued at R41 000.

For more details about these products, go to www.canon.co.za

Rules

1. This competition is open to any employee or owner of a safari lodge or game reserve in Africa.

2. Only photographs taken in Africa and its islands (including Madagascar) will be considered.

3. A photographer may submit a maximum of two images per entry each month. Each image should be saved at 300 dpi in JPEG or TIFF format.

4. Entries may be submitted on a CD or DVD or as colour transparencies (slides) and sent by registered post to Canon Field Guides’ Photo Competition, Africa Geographic, P O Box 44223, Claremont 7735, Cape Town, South Africa.

5. Alternatively, an image up to 3 MB in size can be sent as an attachment to an e-mail to leni@africageographic.com. Entries can also be loaded in a folder onto our ftp site: host www.africageographic.com; username agftp; password 951984. Label your folder clearly with your name and ‘Canon photo competition’, and e-mail leni@africageographic.com to notify us that it is there. Any entries loaded onto the site without subsequent e-mail notification will not be considered.

6. Minimal digital adjustments may be made to the image and should be limited to levels, colour, saturation and contrast, and sharpening. The image should faithfully represent the scene captured by the photographer; no distractions should be digitally removed from the composition.

7. All photos should show subjects in the wild. Photographers are requested to avoid doing anything that may injure or distress any animals or may harm the environment in their attempt to get the shot.

8. All entries must be labelled with your name and contact details (e-mail and postal addresses and daytime telephone number). Please also supply technical details (camera make and model, lens, exposure and speed, other equipment used, and film if relevant); and include a short paragraph (maximum 120 words) on your career in the bush and where, when and how the photograph was taken.

9. The competition will run from the April 2011 issue of Africa Geographic to the November 2011 issue. Entries for each monthly competition should reach us by the 27th of each month, starting with 27 January and ending on 27 August. The grand prize, awarded to the best photograph overall, will be judged by our panel as advertised and by a representative of Canon. The winner will be notified by e-mail and announced in the December 2011/January 2012 issue of Africa Geographic.

10. If you would like your transparencies returned, please include a self-addressed envelope and a cheque or postal order to the value of R15 to cover the postage. Digital submissions will not be returned.

11. Photographers retain ownership of their images but Africa Geographic reserves the right to use the images on its website and Facebook pages and in any compilation publication.

12. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.