person inside a alpine hut

NZAC Photocomp 2024 - Mountain And Climbing Culture | Theme: Huts

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alpine hut beside lake
Photo: Penzy Dinsdale
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Mountain lake
Photo: Penzy Dinsdale
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pulley over river
Photo: Penzy Dinsdale

The judging for this year's NZAC Photo Competition is now complete! Stay tuned to our website throughout the week as we reveal the winners for each category. 

The Mountain and Climbing Culture category underwent some changes for 2024 with photographers asked to submit a photo story encompassing the theme 'Huts'. The winner of this category with the photo story shown above, is Penzy Dinsdale (www.southerlystormphotography.com | @penzyd ). She captions the photo story: Traversing the southern alps took me to many new places I'd never been before and challenged my skills in the mountains. Arriving at the beauty of Lochnagar Hut after nearly getting stuck on the tops getting there made the experience one of the stand out locations of the trip.

The judges' comments were: The new Mountain & Climbing Culture format provided good discussion with the judging team. The brief is "to provide 3-5 images that convey a compelling story or message involving a Hut – with each image strong enough to stand on its own while conveying a greater narrative when viewed in the photographer’s desired sequence". We found Penzy's submissions from Loch Nagar hut nailed the brief perfectly. Her choices of framing reflects (pun intended) her experience at the hut and the process of getting in and out of this special spot. - Judge: Simon Waterhouse 

Congratulations Penzy on creating an excellent narrative with your images. She has won Aarn Packs Mountain Magic 50 PRO and a full menu of Firepot Food thanks to Further Faster

There was one photo story by Larryn Rae awarded with Honours recognition, shown below. Larryn wins a Montane Protium Hoodie from Further Faster. Congratulations also to Jaimee Trimmer, Andrew Burns, David MacDonald, Fynn Marno-Simpson, Johnny Hopkins, Maddy Whittaker, Michael Beckmann, Matthew Chan, Shawn Cohen, Tobias Altmeyer, Nicole Koch who entered images awarded with Accepted recognition.

Thanks again to the photo competition judges Simon WaterhouseMark Watson and Dennis Radermacher.  

The Mountain and Climbing Culture Photo Story category will remain for 2025. We are excited to announce that the 2025 theme will be "Treasured Gear." This theme invites you to capture the essence of an item that holds special meaning. Show us the equipment that has become a cherished companion in your climbing adventures and the stories and experiences behind it. So keep the 2025 theme in mind when heading out on trips over the next year and see if you can capture a compelling photo story featuring your treasured gear. 

Our 2025 NZAC Calendar features many outstanding photographs from this year's competition. Pre-order yours today here: https://shop.alpineclub.org.nz/product/nzac-calendar-2025/ 

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snow field
Photo: Larryn Rae. 
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snowy volcano mountain
Photo: Larryn Rae. 
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alpine hut covered in snow
Photo: Larryn Rae. 
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high lit from within on a starry night
Photo: Larryn Rae. 
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alpine hut on snow field under the milky way galaxy
Photo: Larryn Rae. 

The caption to Larryn Rae's (www.shadowandshade.co.nz | @shadowandshadenz) entry awarded Honours:
As a photographer, I have always wanted to climb and shoot the Milky Way arch over Syme Hut and Mt Taranaki from on Fanthoms Peak. I wanted to be the first photographer to do so and made it my goal to be the first. Having been here several times under warm summer conditions, I knew winter was going to be a whole other kind of challenge. To capture this bucket-list image, I had to first gain the mountaineering skills and then the confidence to carry the 30 kgs of gear up this daunting peak. It took an arduous 4.5 hours to climb and by the time I reached the hut I was absolutely exhausted, but knowing what lay ahead made all the pain worth it. As the clouds dissipated on sunset, the skies cleared and the incredible night sky appeared. What isn’t seen in these images is the gale force wind gusts that blew all through the night, making any photography a real challenge - especially keeping the tripod still through the long exposures needed to capture the Milky Way images. Finally, after years of planning and upgrading my skills, it all came together, The final 42-image panorama capturing the Milky Way arch over Syme Hut and Mt Taranaki was all mine. A mighty goal ticked off!