From the sweeping and striking vistas which surround the ACT to a rich and colourful life revealed in microcosm, a new photography award has revealed young local talent for landscape and nature photography.
Winners of the National Parks Association of the ACT's environmental photography competition were announced at a ceremony at the Southern Cross Club on Friday.
Lachlan Read won first prize in the flora and fauna category for his photograph of a superb fairwren, which seems to be posing for the purpose.
PhotoAccess ACT director Kirsten Wehner, who was on the judging panel, said Read's image "invites us to really notice again this lovely little bird, which we often see around and hopefully more and more".
"But there's something about the image which really captures its vitality and energy, and that enables the stalks in the image to lead us off into the broader world and to think about where the bird has come from, where the bird is going to. And that's a really powerful way to capture our attention," Ms Wehner said.
Stefan De Montis won the landscapes category with a photograph titled Snow Gum on the Scabby Range, which showed the gum cast in white snow.
Ms Wehner said De Montis' image let the majestic tree tell its own story.
"It allows the tree to tell the story of enduring years of icy conditions," she said.
A photograph of the moon framed by two skeleton trees by Ritchie Southern won first prize in the big picture division of the competition's woodlands category.
Lora Starrs' photograph of two Peron's tree frogs, in sharp relief against a black background, won the close-up and personal division of the woodlands category.
In the "Conserving our water supply category", Joel Davis' photograph of crows on a dead and fallen tree won first prize, with the judges praising Davis' creative response to the category.
Ms Wehner said: "It shows these birds, these creatures huddled in the midst of dust blown around, incredibly dry, it shocks us into thinking about the value of water in all our lives and our need to conserve and care for it."
The competition was judged by artist Sammy Hawker, photographer Glenn Martin, ecologist and photographer David Wong and Ms Wehner. The competition was open to amateur photographers aged between 15 and 35.
The judges said despite significant obstacles - many parks have been closed for long periods this year after bushfires in January - there was a wide variety to the high-quality entries.
"Their images inspire us all to appreciate, care for and spend time in our national parks and nature reserves," the judges said.
The photographs will be displayed at the Canberra Museum and Gallery and the Namadgi visitors' centre.
