{"id":754766,"date":"2026-06-23T01:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T01:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/754766\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T01:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T01:09:12","slug":"2026-australian-geographic-nature-photographer-of-the-year-shortlist-unveiled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/754766\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year shortlist unveiled"},"content":{"rendered":"

What started as a routine early morning walk around Herdsman Lake for Perth hobbyist photographer Donald Chin ended with a snap that has catapulted the 58-year-old onto the national stage.<\/p>\n

Mr Chin is among a talented contingent of WA finalists shortlisted for the prestigious 2026 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition.<\/p>\n

His nominated photograph captures a juvenile tawny frogmouth stretching its wings to shield its two siblings just as a light shower began to fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially they had their eyes closed,\u201d Mr Chin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd just as some light showers started to fall, one of the tawny frogmouths stretches out his wings and I was like, wow, I was pretty excited. He opened his eyes and yeah, I took that shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really thrilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now in its 23rd year, the competition \u2014 produced by the South Australian Museum \u2014 is widely considered the pinnacle for nature photography in the region.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s contest attracted a staggering 2129 entries from 501 photographers across 17 countries, spanning 10 categories.<\/p>\n

\"ACamera IconA group of royal penguins pause mid-march as an elephant seal voices objection. Credit: John Harrison \/ AGNPOTY\/John Harrison \/ AGNPOTY\"White-facedCamera IconWhite-faced herons with pure, uninhibited chaos. Credit: Kristian Bell \/ AGNPOTY\/Kristian Bell \/ AGNPOTY<\/p>\n

Only 100 images made the final cut for the upcoming exhibition.<\/p>\n

Former winner and 2026 judge Ross Gudgeon said narrowing the field required ruthless attention to detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe standard this year was extremely high,\u201d Mr Gudgeon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very easy getting down to 200 photos, but it then got very difficult narrowing it down again to the final 100.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, it was pretty much attention to detail that was the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe bright whites and yellows of the daisies sparkle, like the sunlight on the surface of the dark waters they grow in, Manjimup. Credit: Georgina Steytler \/ AGNPOTY\/Georgina Steytler \/ AGNPOTY\"DueCamera IconDue to unabated land clearing, with huge tracts of koala habitat removed to make way for massive housing developments, koala numbers are rapidly deteriorating across Australia. Credit: Michael Snedic \/ AGNPOTY\/Michael Snedic \/ AGNPOTY<\/p>\n

The powerhouse crop of WA finalists also includes Lewis Burnett, Nathan Watson, Georgina Steytler, Beth Baker, Elizabeth Oxnam, Brooke Pyke, Matt Deakin, Kendra Campbell, Sharon Jones, Scott Portelli, and Francois Brassard.<\/p>\n

For Mr Chin, who focuses his lens primarily on wildlife and landscapes, just making the shortlist among such high-calibre peers is a victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my third year entering the competition and each year I can see the images are getting better and better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe quality of the work being submitted, it\u2019s really pristine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TinyCamera IconTiny jumping spider navigating a maze of fallen leaves within a low bush. Credit: Bridgette Gower\/ AGNPOTY\/Bridgette Gower \/ AGNPOTY\"StunningCamera IconStunning shot in the Pilbara. Credit: Matt Deakin\/ AGNPOTY\/Matt Deakin \/ AGNPOTY<\/p>\n

The overall winner and category winners will be revealed via a video announcement on Thursday, August 27, ahead of the exhibition opening at the South Australian Museum on Saturday, August 29.<\/p>\n

The stakes are high, with a $10,000 grand prize for the overall winner, $1500 for category winners, and a People\u2019s Choice award to be voted on by the public and announced in January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What started as a routine early morning walk around Herdsman Lake for Perth hobbyist photographer Donald Chin ended…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75,18537],"class_list":["post-754766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}