We usually start Monday mornings by dissecting some or other political drama that’s developed over the weekend, but let’s start things a little differently today.

There’s something soothing about enjoying top-notch photography, like last week’s Wildlife Photography Awards winners, and this time our lens is trained on a South African man who won a top award for his shark photography at the World Shootout 2018 awards.

News24 reporting below:

The competition is focused on underwater photography and Allen Walker beat out David Salvatori and Filippo Borghi (both from Italy) to claim the first prize in the Sharks category.

“It’s always nice to get recognition for years of work and dedication to try and master the art of underwater photography and photography in general, especially if it is only done as a hobby. Right now though, the fact that I have won a dive aboard trip to ‘The Gardens of Eden’, Cuba, something I could never afford, is just amazing. One big bucket list tick!” an ecstatic Walker told News24…

Walker’s images capture the beauty of marine creatures and he believes it helps conservation efforts.

“Most definitely, my images have made people curious; they have evoked a sense of serenity around the ‘feared’ shark; they have made visible what people cannot see and they have shown that you can work in very close quarters with these animals,” he said.

“More importantly, I have been able to take people on shark dives and show them firsthand how amazing these animals are. Most of my images are surreal and show the beauty of the animal and the ocean,” he added.

The Shootout Awards have been running since 2005, with this year’s ceremony held in Germany.

You can have a look at all of the winners here, with the winner in the ‘Best Picture of the Year’ category, Andy Schmid, below:

OK, one more – a beauty from Francois Baelen of France:

Splendid.

Back to the latest political scandal, then.

[source:news24]