Russian Dmitri Sharamov's image of a Greenpeace volunteer planting a tree as part of reforestation activity on Landcorp land near Taupo in April was selected as one of 13 images from around the world posted on Greenpeace International's website.
Mr Sharamov, his wife and 2-year-old son lived in Outram while Mr Sharamov completed a diploma in digital photography at the Aoraki Polytechnic campus in Dunedin during 2007, a break from his position as a navigator and sometimes photographer on the Rainbow Warrior on which he has worked periodically since 2000.
An increasing interest in photography led him to seek a qualification and a worldwide search led him to Dunedin, where he had already fallen in love with the landscape and lifestyle, Mr Sharamov said.
The Taieri Plain was perfect, as he found the area similar to his home, Sakhalin Island off the east coast of Russia, and he had been able to explore the South Island while he studied.
His family returned to St Petersburg, Russia, this year while he spent four and a-half months on board Rainbow Warrior during its recent tour of New Zealand.
The family is now back with friends at Outram, while Mr Sharamov, who will become a citizen at a ceremony in Dunedin today, seeks work.
Greenpeace did not hire full-time photographers, preferring to rely on freelancers, he said.
Mr Sharamov's pictures for Greenpeace have been published in media around the world, including in Indonesia, where he helped set up a school and a related child sponsorship programme in Banda Aceh following the 2004 tsunami.
His Taupo photo was taken when 30 Greenpeace volunteers planted more than 1000 trees on land cleared for dairy farming.
Mr Sharamov said he was surprised to learn his photo had made the pictures of the month in April.
It was an honour to be recognised by Greenpeace, he said.
"I was very pleased because it is just the sort of picture I like to take."
