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Photo Contest

2024 Oceania Photo Contest Winners

The Nature Conservancy is proud to announce the winners of our 2024 contest.

Roar of Anger Egret fishing, meeting such a large Elops saurus, unable to eat, leaving a regretful look. The Elops saurus opened its mouth wide and rushed out of the seawater. © Xiaoping Lin / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

The inaugural 2024 Oceania Photo Contest saw close to 2,000 incredible entries submitted from photographers across the Oceania region.

Each image, across every category, brought something remarkable and unique, showcasing not just technical expertise but a deep understanding of storytelling and the moments that truly make us stop and think.

 

Grand Prize Winner

Daniel Sly, Australia

A side portrait of a Pot-bellied Seahorse in the dark water
Pot-bellied Seahorse Portrait During an early morning dive at Bare Island in Sydney’s Botany Bay, we encountered a Pot-bellied Seahorse seeking shelter in the centre of a cluster of sea tulips. © Daniel Sly / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

People & Nature

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First Place, People & Nature

Duncan Macfarlane, Australia

A view of a Surfer from beneath the waves through a school of salmon
Salmon Surfer One of the worlds best surfers, Shane Dorian surfing around Margaret River, WA, Australia. Shot from underwater through a School of Australian Salmon. Surfers have a more intimate connection to nature and its systems as it relies on the water and coast for their playground. Even in my time shooting I've seen a degradation of the oceans around the world from pollution to changing weather patterns. It's nice to see a unique moment of man/environment coexisting so beautifully. © Duncan Macfarlane / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Second Place, People & Nature

Peter Harlow, Australia

An aerial image of the town of White Cliffs with clear vision of the road that encircles the town like a border
Island Universe This photograph was captured in April 2024 from the air over White Cliffs, in outback New South Wales - famous for its opal mining. © Peter Harlow / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Third Place, People & Nature

Steven Genesin, Australia

A person in the distance looking into the mist that sits between two ancient rock formations. The mist is dense and eerie and you cannot see past it.
Into the Unknown On a trip to Central Australia in July2022 a dense fog descended on the ancient rock formations in Uluru-KataTjuta National Park. © Steven Genesin / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

 

PLants & Fungi

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First Place, Plants & Fungi

Crystal Richardson, New Zealand

A close up of brown fungi and the light sunlight hitting it making some parts look golden
Beneath the Glow Taken as part of an ongoing personal project to photograph the beauty in tiny ecosystems that often go unseen to spread more awareness of their importance. © Crystal Richardson / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Second Place, Plants & Fungi

Chin Kang Chia, New Zealand

A close up of white Marasmius mushrooms showing its folds
White Being white typically means you will be overlooked in most cases when you're a mushroom. Photographing white subject matters like these Marasmius mushrooms are challenging as lightings could prove tricky specially when I am relying on natural light to bring out the subtle beauty of these bland objects. © Chin Kang Chia / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Third Place, Plants & Fungi

Caitlin Germanis, New Zealand

An intricate web of dew-drops hanging together of lichen on a branch almost like a chandelier
Lacy Lichen Taken on a dewy morning in our back garden testing out the new camera and experimenting with different subjects. © Caitlin Germanis / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

 

Water

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First Place, Water

Daniel Sly, Australia

A side portrait of Pot-bellied Seahorse in the dark water
Pot-bellied Seahorse Portrait During an early morning dive at Bare Island in Sydney’s Botany Bay, we encountered a Pot-bellied Seahorse seeking shelter in the centre of a cluster of sea tulips. © Daniel Sly / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Second Place, Water

Aayushi Khillan, Australia

An aerial view showing a body of crystal-like water wedged within an ancient rock formation
Vad This means wild, untamed, uncontrolled, unregulated. This is a natural Gorge found in Karijini National Park. I love the way the water has carved a way through the rocks. © Aayushi Khillan / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Third Place, Water

Peter McGee, Australia

A waterline shot - a densely packed smack of jelly blubbers below the water and the beach and coast above the water
Jelly blubber split An unusually large group (smack) of jellyfish were in Cabbage Tree Bay. This split image captures the jelly blubbers with Shelly Beach Headland in the background. © Peter McGee/2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

 

Lands

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First Place, Lands

Michael S. Martin, Australia

Kytes swarming in the air against a glowing orange backdrop of fire and trees
Where there's Smoke ...there's food. Kakadu, Northern Territory burn-off. Irresistible to the Kytes. © Michael S. Martin / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Second Place, Lands

Hamish Ashton, New Zealand

A close-up picture of sand on a stormy day naturally depicting a forest scene
Sand forest September 2024. I was walking down the beach looking for something inspirational and the weather wasn't playing ball. I them remembered a You Tube video I watched. They were having the same problem so they said look down and look for detail. So I did and found these 'trees' in the sand. It was then getting the angle right so they became 3D. © Hamish Ashton / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Third Place, Lands

Justin Tan, Australia

A moody shot of mist and cloud at the top of a dense dark green forest peak
Time stands still Where the clouds meet the mountains in Mo’orea’s stunning landscape. © Justin Tan / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

 

climate

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First Place, Climate

Scott Portelli, Australia

The iceshelf extends for hundreds of kilometres along the high arctic landscape. The jagged perfectly sculptured edges show the sheer magnitude of ice protruding into the ocean.
Ice falls The iceshelf extends for hundreds of kilometres along the high arctic landscape. The jagged perfectly sculptured edges show the sheer magnitude of ice protruding. © Scott Portelli / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Second Place, Climate

Darren Wassell, Australia

A lightning strike in the distance against a peach coloured storm clouds
The Beast I love storm season and witnessing the power and beauty of Mother Nature, she never disappoints. This was taken from the rocky shores at Kings Beach and was the only strike. © Darren Wassell / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Third Place, Climate

Bailee Barton, New Zealand

An aerial image of a lake suffering from the drought, no water, just brown and beige land and lines showing where the water used to be
Opuha For a Lake used for irrigating our local farms it was a shock to see the damage the threatening drought had achieved in such a small duration of time. © Bailee Barton / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

 

Wildlife

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First Place, Wildlife

Xiaoping Lin, Australia

An Egret lifting a fish out of the water with its claws - the fish has its mouth wide-open
Roar of Anger Egret fishing, meeting such a large Elops saurus, unable to eat, leaving a regretful look. The Elops saurus opened its mouth wide and rushed out of the seawater. © Xiaoping Lin / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Second Place, Wildlife

Naidu Kumapatla, Australia

A Bee-Eater throwing up a dragon fly in the air an opening its beak preparing to swallow it
Toss of Life In an extraordinary display of agility, this Bee-Eater snatched a dragonfly mid-flight, then swiftly perched on a nearby branch. © Naidu Kumapatla /2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

Third Place, Wildlife

Stuart Attwood, New Zealand

This mallard was hunting for food on the Avon River in Christchurch. The water was shallow and it was searching under a bridge.
Duck Dive This mallard was hunting for food on the Avon River in Christchurch. The water was shallow and it was searching under a bridge. © Stuart Attwood / 2024 TNC Oceania Photo Contest

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