An Aussie Photographer Snapped The World’s Best Aerial Photo For 2017

Amid all the incredible imagery from winners of the National Geographic Photographer of the Year contest, you might have missed one small detail: The winning photo in the Aerial Photography category was snapped by New South Wales native Todd Kennedy.

The ocean pool at Collaroy Beach on Sydney’s north shore is the subject of Kennedy’s prize-winning photo, which shows waves from the Pacific Ocean breaking over the almost-century-old pool. The irregularly shaped pool is perched at the southern end of the stretch of beach between Collaroy and Narrabeen.

Right in the centre is a local swimming laps, who Kennedy says was likely avoiding summer crowds at nearby beaches.

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A quick browse of his profile shows equally compelling shots from some of Australia’s most-recognisable locations, like Western Australia’s Cable Beach and Mungo Lake in regional NSW.

Kennedy’s shot was selected as the winner of the Aerial Photography category from almost 11,000 entries. Singaporean photographer Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan took out the competition’s Grand Prize with his shot of an orangutan crossing a river in Indonesia’s Tanjung Puting National Park.

“Honestly, sometimes you just go blind when things like this happen. You’re so caught up…You don’t feel the pain, you don’t feel the mosquito bites, you don’t feel the cold, because your mind is completely lost in what’s happening in front of you,” Bojan told National Geographic.

(Lead image: Rock Pool, Todd Kennedy / National Geographic Photographer of the Year Contest)

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