Our grading system explained
Photo of the Year - Mark's story
We asked Mark Green, the winner of the Photo of the Year competition, to share with us the story of how he captured the prize-winning shot of the Angel Falls in Venezuela.
"As far as I remember this is how the story unfolded: Our group had made a very early pre-dawn start for the 3-4 hour motorised canoe journey up the Carao river from Canaima. The river forked after we had been going for a few hours and we continued up the narrower and faster Churun river until navigating a series of rapids and tight bends and suddenly catching our first partially obscured view over the lush forest of the magnificent Angel Falls towering above us and in full thundering flow....
We
disembarked the canoe and begin to climb ever more steeply upwards,
sweating profusely, through humid, muddy and primeval rainforest for
around an hour or so until we finally clambered up on to some slippery
rocks to a small clearing on a rocky ledge, perched a few hundred metres
above the valley floor.
There right in front of us, across the
river valley is an elemental scene of outstanding beauty. The Angel
Falls appear to be in full thunderous flow spilling over the top of the
1000m high plateau and plunging straight down in clouds of spray to the
valley below. The top of the falls was wreathed in cloud and the spray
was blown in all directions ensuring that we all got a good soaking and
making the small rocky ledge on which where we were perched extremely
slippery and hazardous. One bad slip and we would certainly disappear
over the precipitous edge falling vertically at least 200 to 300 metres
to an untimely end!
I steadied myself by sprawling out on the
ledge, adjusted my camera settings and exposure to 1/125 at f11 at ISO
100, prefocussed, dried my lens with a cloth, replaced the lens cap and
waited for what seemed to be ages until the clouds miraculously lifted a
little from the top of the falls and I had a reasonably full view of
the amazing scene in its entirety. I whipped the lens cap off which
had been shielding the lens from the spray and only had the briefest
opportunity of a few seconds to take 3 quick photos until the lens
became very wet with spray again and the clouds descended once again
obscuring the full views. I knew that I had been very lucky to have had
this chance of photographing this outstanding scene and hoped that the
outcome was successful. I was certain that the other photographers who
were all jostling for what little space there was on the ledge were not
as fortunate as I had been." Mark travelled to Venezuela on our Lost World Trek.
Related News
New walking holiday in Kerala
Kerala is one of the most beautiful regions of India with an impressive variety of wildlife and scenery from emerald-green tea plantations to rugged hill country, and from languid waterways to idyllic golden-sand beaches. Discover its many natural wonders on our new walking and wildlife holiday.
Highlights include an overnight Backwaters cruise, the wildlife-rich parks of Thattekad and Periyar, the scenic trails of Munnar and the spectacular temples of Madurai. Click here for full trip details.
New Annapurna Trek
We've just introduced a brand new camping trek in the heart of the Annapurna Mountains in Nepal. It follows an historic trail through spectacular scenery to reach the foot of Annapurna I - the world's tenth highest mountain. Find out more in our latest enews and watch our tantalising teaser video.
Sign up here to receive our next enews and be kept up to date with all the latest new and destination information. We promise not to bombard you and we will never share your details.
Free tickets for Destinations
We’re delighted to have a stand at the Destinations Travel Show next February in London and can’t wait to say hello in person. If you want to come and meet us, complimentary tickets are now available.
The show runs from the 1-4 February at Olympia and is one of the foremost travel events of the year. You’ll find tons of holiday inspiration, plus travel-related masterclasses and entertaining talks by industry experts and celebrities.