Behind the Lens 2024: Audience Favourite Winner
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Earlier this year, we had the pleasure of announcing Graham Harvey as the winner of the 2023/24 Kariega Facebook Photo Competition.
Graham's stunning shot of a newborn elephant and its mother, garnered the most likes from our Facebook community, earning him an all-inclusive, two-night stay at our beautiful Ukhozi Lodge.
Graham is a retired electrical engineer who resides on the Isle of Man. He inherited his passion of wildlife and photography from his late wife Patrica. He describes how he spent many years carrying the camera and lenses and keeping still, while watching the wildlife! He has continued his wife's tradition of wildlife photography in her memory - now taking magnificent photographs himself and capturing moments he knows she would have loved to share.
Graham, is also well-loved member of the Kariega family, having volunteered at our Kariega Volunteer Program nine times!
We are so happy that his 10th visit to Kariega Game Reserve will be as our guest and winner of the 2023/24 Facebook Photo Competition, at the luxurious Ukhozi Lodge.
We caught up with Graham to find out the story behind the lens of the photograph that won him the competition. It's well worth the read. We hope you enjoy our behind-the-scenes conversation with Graham.
Behind The Lens | Audience Favourite Winner Graham Harvey
Tell us more about when and where the photograph was taken and the camera and settings used to take it.
While participating in the Kariega Volunteer Program, you are assigned multiple tasks each day, one of which is elephant tracking and monitoring. Graham captured this shot while on an elephant monitoring assignment. It was taken with his Nikon 750, lens Nikon AF-S Nikkor 80-400mm 1:4.5-6G, shooting mode - shutter-priority auto exposure, ISO 1/500sec, ISO 200.
Graham explained:
"I had been trying to take an image of the elephants ear, as that's the best way to identify an elephant. This led me to trying to capture profile shots of an elephant’s ear. As we were watching the herd of elephant, I noticed the elephant and calf in my photo, To me it looked like the cow was trying to teach the calf how to use its trunk to reach for food. The cow was holding her food just out of reach to the calf and trying to encourage the calf to work for its meal."
How did you react when you found out you had won and when will you claim your prize?
I was delighted to see the likes and comments for my photograph that came through on your Facebook page. I was very gratefully for the support and delighted to have won the 2024 Kariega Facebook Photo Competition.
Tell us more about your experience at Kariega.
My first volunteer tour was in 2017. I have now enjoyed 9 visits as a Kariega Volunteer. I am planning to volunteer once more and hopefully combine my tour with my competition prize. I have really enjoyed becoming a Kariega Volunteer and supporting the work that the Kariega Foundation undertake in support of the wildlife within the Kariega Game Reserve. During my last tour, I helped to remove the first section of the fencing to incorporate new habitat into the reserve.
2024 Photo Competition Winner's Amazing Photography
Graham was kind enough to share a few more of his spectacular wildlife images from his past visits at Kariega.
Thank you Graham it was such a privilege for us to get behind the lens with you, and we look forward to hosting you as a guest next time!
Above is a magnificent image of a Narina Trogan, a very rare bird to observe, but we do have a few individuals that reside on the reserve; they are typically located in exquisite forests and canopy areas, a truly picturesque bird.
The image below shows a juvenile male lion clawing a tree, which helps to sharpen their claws. This young lion is one of three sub-adult lions on the reserve, the litter of cubs were born in May of last year and are now young adults, with their mother still teaching them bush survival skills and hunting techniques!
The picture above displays a mother and infant Vervet monkey. This little one will stay with their mother until they reach sexual maturity. If the monkey is a male, he will be driven out of his troop by the dominant male and will then move on to join a new troop, whereas females will remain in their home troop indefinitely.
Enter 2025 Photo Competitions
Entering Kariega’s 2025 Facebook Photo Competition could not be easier. Simply share your favourite wildlife photos from your Kariega safari on our Kariega Facebook Page through the comment section. Your photo will automatically be entered into the competition. The closing date is 30 May 2025.
We love the multiple entries from our guests but due to competition rules the top 5 images are selected from the the album entered.
Enter now and you could be the 2025 winner who receives a complimentary two night stay for two people at Ukhozi Lodge on a fully inclusive basis.
Instagram Video Competition
Congratulations to Sanja Rice on winning our 2023/2024 Instagram Video Competition, your reel was spectacular and it met all our requirements.
On 1 June the 2025 Kariega Instagram Video Competition began. To enter; post your reel from your Kariega safari on your Instagram account and include the hashtag #Kariegavideo25 in the caption. You will also need to make sure that you follow us on Instagram and tag us. If you have a private account please direct message the reel to us or make your account public. Below is the criteria the judges have made for the reel winner:
1. It shows all round experience (wildlife + lodge)
2. The video is a good duration – not too long
3. The video is above average quality
Enter now and you could be the 2025 winner who receives a complimentary two night stay for two people at River Lodge on a fully inclusive basis.
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