HIGHLY COMMENDED CATEGORY BLACK AND WHITE
Byron Grobler | Impala Shower

Name: Byron Grobler
Picture title: Impala Shower
Category: Black and White 
Nationality: South Africa
Occupation: Full-time photographer and NFT artist.

Technical information
Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mk ii
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 lens
EXIF: 1/3200 sec at f2.8 (0 EV) ISO 1000

Byron Grobler says:

The Southern part of Kruger National Park is known for its high density and diversity of wildlife. This week, the main objective was to find and photograph leopards. High temperatures were making this difficult as most predators were inactive during the day. On this uncomfortably hot afternoon, my colleague and I decided to slowly drive the less traveled routes and hope for the best. Temperatures were well into the 40s (degrees Celsius) with a heavy downpour imminent. As the heavy shower of rain broke through, we could hardly see a thing and waited it out near a large herd of Impala. A few of the males nervously crossed the road ahead presenting a unique opportunity. Although the cool rain was welcomed, this impala ‘froze’ in the middle of the road with all its senses completely muffled, leaving it feeling extremely vulnerable. The rain gave a soft hazy look to his surroundings, from the road beneath him to the acacia trees in the background. This also helped isolate him from everything else in the scene and gave a natural ‘fine art’ look to it. He looked back towards us with a bent front leg, which I believe completes the image and shows a sense of how indecisive this Impala would have been feeling at the time.