After facing the terror of battling to save his family's home as the Black Summer bushfires swept through the South Coast, Samuel Markham grabbed his camera.
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What he captured just 20 minutes after the fire front had passed expressed the power and intensity of the fires so markedly, that it earned him the title of 2023 Australian Geographic nature photographer of the year.
The award's judges were lavish in their praise of the image My Country Burns, taken at Parma in the Shoalhaven on New Year's Eve, 20129.
"This is a breathtaking, scary photograph, full of energy and visual drama, which is indicative of the world we now live in," they said.
"Despite the circumstances, this isn't a panicked shot; it is a studied composition with extraordinary detail.
"Many layers draw us into the scene, giving us a genuine feeling of being part of the firestorm."
Mr Markham said the day was dramatic, as he joined family members trying to save their home.
"I have been in some pretty bad weather events as a landscape photographer, but nothing could have prepared me for being straight in the line of a pyro cumulonimbus fire storm which had a built in flashover with temperature exceeding 1000 degrees," he said.
"This thing sounded like a jet engine powered by incredible easterly winds.
"It turned daylight into darkness. Then nothing. Silence. The wind dropped.
"Slowly a trickle of embers began to emerge from the sky above.
"Then suddenly it was like someone turned on a fan and opened up the oven door," Mr Markham said.
"An extreme southerly wind pushed this monster of a blaze straight up the hill towards us - raging with 40-plus metre flames and showering us with embers from above.
"It then sucked every last bit of oxygen from the air."
Despite the conditions they managed to save the family home, with Mr Markham saying that was a tribute to the "unity and strength" that emerged when communities came together to protect their homes and loved ones.
A few minutes later Mr Markham grabbed his camera to capture the wining photo.
Australian Geographic Picture Editor Nicky Catley said the competition had "become a record of our changing world, an earth in perpetual transformation".
And she said Mr Markham's picture "speaks most urgently to the state in which we find ourselves this coming summer under a destabilised climate with an El Nino weather system on the way".
Mr Markham said the award was the highlight of his landscape photography career to date.
But he "didn't think it was real" when he got a call to say he had won the competition.
"In my opinion, this is the best nature photography competition that is available in Australia," he said.
"I have personally been entering for years.
"The competition judges check your raw files to make sure everything is real and nothing has been photoshopped," Mr Markham said.
"The calibre of work that gets shortlisted every year is truly remarkable."
The 26-year-old fell in love with landscape photography the first time he picked up a camera in 2011.
He started locally, honing his skills at places including Bombo Quarry, Cathedral Rocks and the Jervis Bay area, which he described as "some of the most beautiful places in the world".
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"They taught me the fundamentals of landscape photography. These were the locations that I ventured to in the early hours of the morning to perfect my craft," Mr Markham said.
Since then he has travelled to every Australia state as part of his landscape photography journey, including several wilderness adventures in remote areas of Tasmania.
"That's what I love the most, getting to places that not many people have seen," Mr Markham said.
"I have also travelled to New Zealand multiple times, Argentina, Chile and last year I did a month-long road trip through the United States of America photographing some of their incredible national parks."
While working for a local transport company allowed him time to indulge his photographic passion, "I would love to turn it into a full-time career one day if the opportunity presents itself."
Mr Markham has already started running landscape photography workshops.
"This is something I have always wanted to do," he said.
"Teaching landscape photography to others has always been a goal for me - I have so much information to give.
"I look forward to sharing my passion and knowledge with anyone who joins me in my workshops."
First prize in the Australian Geographic Landscape Photographer of the Year competition was $10,000 and a holiday, and Mr Markham is already eyeing off new photographic destinations.
The wilderness areas of Tasmania and New Zealand's south island are high on my list," he said.
"I have only explored such a small section of these two islands and I'm always planning my next trip.
"Other places such as Iceland, Norway and Canada are also extremely high on my list," Mr Markham said.
