The competition, run annually by the South Australian Museum and culminating in an exhibition that opens this weekend, attracted 1856 entries from 442 photographers across 12 countries. It offers prizes in 10 categories encompassing wildlife and landscape photographs taken across the Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and New Guinea bioregions.
Bubble-net, Scott Portelli (WA) – overall winner.
This year marks the second time Western Australian photographer Scott Portelli has won the overall prize, after his picture of a camouflaged leafy seadragon at SA’s Second Valley caught the judges’ eyes in 2021.
His latest winning image, titled Bubble Net and entered in the newly created “Aerial” category of the competition, was captured on a sailing expedition to Antarctica. Taken in overcast, snowy weather, it shows humpback whales practising what is known as bubble-net feeding, where they surround a group of small fish and corral them in a “net” of bubbles.
“I sat and watched these whales bubble-netting for about six hours, but trying to capture that moment when they break the surface came down to persistence and timing,” says Portelli, who wins $10,000 and a holiday prize.
Barossa-based photographer David Dahlenburg’s Grotesque Beauty, a series of six photos that were taken from a light plane and show tailings dams used to store byproducts of mining operations, won the “Portfolio” category of the competition.
“Tailings dams have a sinister beauty – the colours are extraordinary,” says Dahlenburg, who took the photos in locations ranging from the Eyre Peninsula to the state’s Far North.
“They often contain waste materials such as toxic chemicals and heavy metals, which can harm birdlife and groundwater. It’s estimated that there are about 18,000 tailings dams around the world.”
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Other South Australian finalists in the competition include Emmanuel Smith, with a photo of a grey-headed flying fox in Adelaide; William Godward, with a series of astrophotography images captured at Lake Gairdner, the Gawler Ranges, and Yanerbie sand dunes on the Eyre Peninsula; and Simon J Ladd for a monochrome photo of a stand of xanthorrhoea that flourished following the Black Summer bushfires on Kangaroo Island.
Fourteen-year old Adelaidean Maya Hughes won the “Junior” category for her close-up photograph highlighting the elegance of a pelican at Encounter Bay.
All the finalist photos in the 2024 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year will be on display in a public exhibition at the South Australian Museum from August 31 until November 3.
A selection of the winning and runner-up images:
Emperor’s Rule, Wayne Sorensen (Qld) – winner, Animals in Nature category.
Rainbow Valley – Valley of the Stars, Brody Gamble (NT) – winner, Astrophotography category.
Elegance, Maya Hughes (SA) – winner, Junior category.
Tailing Dam, David Dahlenburg (SA) – runner-up, Our Impact category, and part of his series which won the Portfolio category.
Nest of Silk (featuring a green jumping spider), Oliver Lacey (Qld) – runner-up, Junior category.
Teen Spirit, Richard Robinson (NZ) – winner, Threatened Species category.
Aurum, Benjamin Alldridge (Tas) – winner, Landscape category.
Shrieking Carnaby, Nathan Watson (WA) – runner-up, Threatened Species.
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