Winners of Nature Conservancy photo contest announced

THE Nature Conservancy announced their 2019 Photo Contest winners earlier this month.

There were more than 120,000 entries sent in from around the world, with many of the entrants coming from Australia.

Noted Australian photographer Ben Goode was the judge of the best Australian photo.

The award was given to Sydney’s Benjamin Maze for his incredible shot from within a cave in the Blue Mountains. Steve Passlow’s more small-scale shot of a garden katydid earned him the

Australian runner-up place. Jason Curtis was also highly commended in the Australian photography section for his shot of a ladybug besides a whirring tree frog.

Australian photographers featured strongly with a total of 9,111 entries – ranking sixth highest behind the USA.

Two Australians won prizes in the global contest. Alex Kydd of Coral Bay took out first and third prizes in the Water category for photos of a whale shark and a group of Cownose Rays, both taken at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.

Leigh Miller won second prize in the Landscape category for a drone photo of the pink Hutt Lagoon.

To view all the winners, head to natureaustralia.org/photo.