Careful observation is part of both Prof Colin Chan’s profession and his passion. The Vision Eye Institute ophthalmologist recently won the 2026 Animals in Nature category of the prestigious Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year awards. His winning photograph, Just in Time, captures a whimbrel with a freshly caught crab as it tries to outrun an incoming wave at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve (pictured).
Speaking to the ABC following his win, Prof Chan says that the photograph came after spending a couple of weeks during his holidays following and observing the bird as it fed in preparation for its migratory journey.
‘I followed this bird over a week or two and it became used to me. I watched it as it was catching crabs because it has to feed to make this enormous migratory journey,’ he says.
‘This particular photograph was one of many as the bird was going about its business. I was there watching it and then, a few seconds after that photograph was taken, I was also running away from the wave.
‘We both escaped the wave together, which was lovely.’
Patience behind the perfect shot
For Prof Chan, successful nature photography is about more than being in the right place at the right time. Observation, familiarity with a location and respect for wildlife are central to his approach.
‘That’s the thing about nature photography – we are not there to disturb nature. We are there to observe it and respect its distance,’ he says.
Returning to the same locations also gives photographers more opportunities to understand the behaviour of the wildlife they hope to capture.
‘It’s one of the keys to nature photography. Particularly if you’re a part-time photographer like me, the key is to go to the same spot repeatedly, because only then will you observe the same birds or wildlife,’ Prof Chan says.
‘My sons say it’s luck, but honestly it is a bit more than that. Part of it is having multiple opportunities to observe this behaviour and then capture it.’
Seeing the connection between medicine and nature
While photography is a pursuit outside his work as an eye surgeon, researcher and university professor, Prof Chan sees many parallels.
‘You have to have a natural respect for life and a natural curiosity about life to be a good doctor and also a good photographer,’ he says.
The connection between sight and photography can become particularly meaningful through his patients.
‘I have had patients who are photographers whose lives are transformed after I perform cataract surgery. One of them literally wept just to see the world clearly again,’ Prof Chan says.
‘It is a unique, humbling position to be in as an eye surgeon, to give back the gift of sight.’
Photography also provides balance alongside his professional life.
‘I think we all need to have some balance, because otherwise we can’t do our day jobs well,’ he says.
‘As an eye surgeon, as a doctor, we need to have this natural curiosity about the natural world because there are lessons to be learned about human health, how we treat people and that interconnection.’
Inspiring people to see and protect nature
More than 2,000 entries were narrowed down to the winning photographs in the 2026 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year awards, with entries coming from across Australia, New Zealand, Anatartica and New Guinea.
Prof Chan says awards and exhibitions such as this also provide an opportunity to encourage people to connect with the natural world.
‘These exhibitions are about making us continually fall in love with nature so that we continue to be inspired to protect it,’ he says.
It is a fitting intersection of Prof Chan’s professional and creative worlds: a career dedicated to sight and a passion built around observing the natural world.
More nature photography from Prof Colin Chan
Read more about the 2026 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year Awards