It can be really challenging to find innovative ways to photograph a subject, to capture images that makes us think a little harder about the subject or teach us something new. After spending a few days on Malgas Island in the West Coast National Park, photographing the Cape Gannet colony, i was getting frustrated with trying to find this"innovation".

Since being the general manager at De Hoop Nature Reserve and Marine Protected Area, wildlife and conservation photographer, Peter Chadwick has kept a close eye on the fish tagging project that has been ongoing in the De Hoop Marine Protected Area for over 25 years. The project is the largest of its kind in the world, having tagged and released well over 50 000 fish.

The information that has been gathered from this project has helped researchers determine the movement patterns of many inshore fish species and has helped with the setting of line-fish management strategies for South Africa.

Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mark Dumbleton is a talented wildlife and landscape photographer. Born with a passion for the outdoors, he has travelled throughout Africa, photographing the spectacles and nuances of the natural world. "Evoking an emotion through photographic art stems from a life-long passion for the wilderness" says Mark.

Estuaries are among some of our most important coastal ecological features and rank along with tropical rainforests and coral reefs as the world's most productive ecosystems – they are even more productive than both the rivers and the ocean that influence them from either side. Estuaries are a transition zone where fish, birds and animals of all sorts congregate to feed, find refuge, grow to adulthood, and stage migrations. They are unique places, strongly affected by tidal action, where land and river and sea merge into a dynamic natural complex.

Kobus Tollig was born in South Africa in 1979. He developed a love for nature from a young age, and this led to a desire to capture the wonderful surroundings he experienced in his native country. In 2005 he bought his first compact digital camera, and started getting involved with other photographers.

The transition to DSLR technology was a logical next step, and followed 9 months later. From this point, he developed his skills and technique fervently. Mostly self-taught, he does credit his close photographer friends over the past few years, with helping him grow to the level of experience he finds himself now and being able to do what he so loves full time.

He has become proficient in a wide range of photographic fields, and you can view some of his favourite wildlife and landscape images in the portfolio below.

If the Great White Pelican feeding frenzy at Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya was not enough for me to witness the pelicans performed yet again! This time I was blown away by thousands of these large birds flying in every morning and evening to bathe.

Having 5000 Great White Pelicans, fly en-masse just over your head and land in the water a few meters away to begin a feeding frenzy is indeed a humbling and awe inspiring moment.

The noise that is created from all the wing flapping is deafening and sounds a jet flying low over your head, whilst the visual cues send your senses into explosive overload.

As a dedicated conservationist and wildlife photographer, Peter Chadwick has worked throughout southern Africa in some of its most special wild places. These include the Kalagadi Desert, Kruger National Park, Drakensberg Mountains, the sub-antarctic Marion Island and De Hoop Nature Reserve and Marine Protected Area.

The Cape Gannet Morus capensis is a conspicuous resident of the southern African coast, and it is hard to believe that it is regarded as a ‘Vulnerable’ species. They often gather to feed around trawlers, and follow the annual sardine run up the east coast to KwaZulu- Natal in winter. At such times large numbers of birds can be observed flying beyond the breakers, plunging into the sea with closed wings and leaving a plume of spray as they disappear beneath the surface. The total population is estimated at 20 000 pairs that breed in dense colonies at six islands off the cape and Namibian coasts. In winter some birds migrate up the west coast to the gulf of Guinea

The 30th December would be our last morning in the park and we headed off at 05h20, determined to have a fantastic last drive out on the Mata-Mata road. Well… we were so rewarded!

With 10 minutes to spare before we would be allowed out of the gate we drove up to the top of the camp to watch the sunrise, and what a sunrise it was!

On the morning of the 26th we packed up camp at Mata-Mata and headed towards Nossob. A couple of kilometers outside the Mata-Mata camp we came across one of the most exciting sightings of our trip.

The next two days were spent at Tweerivieren camp exploring in the early mornings and late afternoons. In summer one really needs to be at the gate and ready to go at 05h30. By 08h00 it is already getting very hot and the animals become more elusive by the minute, although we remained out until 11h30-12 most days.

The closer we got to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, the warmer it was getting and by the time we reached Tweerivieren, the temperature was heading towards 38-40degs! 

Labouring in the heat, we slowly set up camp, in between ice cold beers, and waited out the afternoon.  The three camps in the Park all have swimming pools, what a lifesaver. It became routine to take a prolonged dip before setting off on our afternoon game drives.

The end of 2011 saw us pack up and head for the bush, after a hectic year filled with hard work, travels and the occasional downer. We decided that a soul-cleansing trip to both the Namaqua National Park and the Kgalagadi Trans-frontier National Park’s were in order. Booked last minute for both!

The seventh black rhino population established by the WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project, was recently released after an epic 1500 kilometre trip across the country. 19 of the critically endangered animals were moved from the Eastern Cape to a new location in Limpopo province.

In the dim pre-dawn light the dull white shadows taking off from the island in the middle of the vlei were barely discernible. It was the sound of the squawking and whooshing of heavy wing beats that had first drawn my attention to the spectacle unfolding before my eyes.

The Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012 Competition has now started its global search for the most inspiring, evocative, compelling and challenging nature images. In the 2011 competition South African photographers excelled with some stunning imagery.

Here are some great tips from Natures Best on taking awardw-winning photo's. Speaking of award winning the The Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012 Competition has now started its global search for the most inspiring, evocative, compelling and challenging nature images. Get your entries in here.

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park is truly one of those magical places that has it all – from deep ocean gorges and coral reefs through to the salt and freshwater marshes, forested dunes, mangroves and the drier woodland interior which abounds with a rich variety of game species, from the crashing roar of waves, that started their journey in the deep ocean, to the stillness and peacefulness of the forest interior, from the kaleidoscope of colour on the tropical reefs through to the drab winter bushveld - What more can one ask for as a destination into what has to be one of Africa’s Great Game Reserves.

The Cape Floristic Kingdom (CFK) is situated in the southern tip of South Africa and stretches from Niewoudville in the north across to Port Elizabeth in the east. Oceans bound it to the south and west and the arid Karoo to the north and east. It covers only 90 000 square kilometres, but contains the highest diversity of plant life in the world. It is a “hotspot” of biodiversity with over 8500 species of plants, which occupy only 0.5% of the African continent, but encompasses 20% of the total plant species. Five of South Africa’s six biomes are found within its borders.