{"id":612122,"date":"2026-09-02T09:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T09:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/612122\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T09:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T09:54:11","slug":"canines-crowned-king-but-cats-lauded-too-as-winner-of-2026-australian-animal-photographer-of-the-year-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/612122\/","title":{"rendered":"Canines crowned king but cats lauded too as winner of 2026 Australian Animal Photographer of the Year revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The winners of the 2026 New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography (NZIPP) Iris Awards were recently announced and, in the Australian branch, dogs took the \u201cAnimal\u201d category crown, but cats put up a fight, also claiming glory.<\/p>\n

While the overall category winner was Charlotte Reeves<\/a>, a Brisbane-based pet photographer who captured a dramatic series of pooches in the outdoors, Melbourne-based pet photographer Belinda Richards claimed the highest-scoring image with a creative frame of a feline.<\/p>\n

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The NZIPP Awards<\/a> are New Zealand\u2019s most recognized photography awards for professional and amateur photographers and, two years ago, expanded into Australia.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos FromDigital Camera World<\/p>\n

In its inaugural Aussie year, Reeves was also crowned Animal Photographer of the Year. This year, she told the organizers she was \u201chonored\u201d for the accolade, while thanking her business partner for encouraging her to enter.<\/p>\n

Image 1 of 3<\/p>\n

\"Dog.\"<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Charlotte Reeves)<\/p>\n

Charlotte Reeves Image 1<\/p>\n

\"Dog.\"<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Charlotte Reeves)<\/p>\n

Charlotte Reeves Image 2<\/p>\n

\"Dog.\"<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Charlotte Reeves)<\/p>\n

Charlotte Reeves Image 3<\/p>\n

Reeves claimed victory with three dramatic images of dogs in the outdoors, each taking a striking pose. Judges scored images out of 100, with \u201cGold\u201d claiming a minimum of 90 points, \u201cSilver\u201d 80\u201389 points, and \u201cBronze\u201d 75\u201379 points. Reeves\u2019 trio all gained at least a \u201cSilver\u201d rating, with two marked with distinction.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Although Reeves\u2019 dogs took the Animal category, the cats of the competition put up a good fight. Belinda Richards<\/a>\u2019 frame scored a whopping 99\/100, the highest from any entrant across New Zealand and Australia.<\/p>\n

Above: watch how Belinda Richards created her winning image “Catitude”<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s no wonder Richards scored so well. In a recent Instagram<\/a> video, the renowned pet photographer revealed how the shot was essentially a major DIY project involving custom set building. Richards had success across the competition too, taking first place in the \u201cCreative\u201d category.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Deals on Reeve’s winning Canon rigs!<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s our pick of the best cameras for portrait photography<\/a> \u2013 great for snapping your animal loved-ones. And we\u2019ve also got an entire section dedicated to pet photography<\/a> tutorials and techniques.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The winners of the 2026 New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography (NZIPP) Iris Awards were recently announced and,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612123,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-612122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}