The BirdLife Photography Committee offers a series of awards for various levels of Member engagement.

All members of BirdLife Photography have the opportunity to participate in our Awards. 

Winners in all categories, not including competitions, will be announced in February/March of the following year.

Tom Oliver BirdLife Photography Member of the Year

The most prestigious award is Tom Oliver Birdlife Photography Member of the Year.  This award is at the discretion of the Committee and is presented to a BirdLife Photography financial member who demonstrates a high level of effective activity for the benefit of members which could include:

• contributing high quality images to the image galleries through the website during the calendar year,
• consistently demonstrating behaviour reflective of BLP’s vision and mission
• participating and/or encouraging others to participate in the Current Competitions organised during the calendar year,
• assisting fellow members in the development of their bird photography skills,
• actively contributing to a range of BirdLife Photography activities, events, projects or resources that benefit our members (as determined by the Committee).

The award consists of a quality sliced crystal cylinder with a frosted white-on-crystal BLP logo and laser inscription, in a velvet presentation case.  A photograph of the winning Member and short biography will be incorporated as a permanent record on this website.

Best Competition Photographers of the Year

Awards are presented to the Best Competition Photographers of the Year, for each competition level - Entry, Intermediate, and Advanced.  Winners will be announced in December.

The overall winner for each competition level is determined by the total number of points accrued during the year, summed across all Current Competitions and for each level of competition.  Points accrue from both Member voting and Mystery Reviewer selections.  For Member voting: Winner = 4 points, Highly Commended = 3 points and Commended = 2 points.  For Mystery Reviewer selections: Winner = 5 points, Highly Commended = 4 points, Commended = 3 points, and Special Mention = 2 points.  In addition, each entrant in a competition receives 1 point.

As the Best Competition Photographer of the Year is chosen by the membership from anonymous photo entries, these awards are open to members of the BirdLife Photography Committee.  The Committee members may not, however, participate in any other award.

These awards consist of a BirdLife Photography custom designed 50 mm coin-style medal, presented in a blue velvet case.

Best Photograph of the Year

The winning image is chosen by member voting from a shortlist of about 12 images selected by a panel of image moderators and committee members.  Candidate images for the shortlist are competition placegetters for both member voting and Mystery Reviewers from all competition levels, and high-quality images submitted to the New Images gallery which are flagged as candidates by moderators.  Panel members cannot select their own images for the shortlist, and members cannot vote for their own image(s) if they appear in the shortlist.  

The winner receives a BirdLife Photography custom designed 50mm gold finish coin-style medal, presented in a blue velvet case.  In addition, the award also includes a parchment style certificate and an e-news article exhibiting the Member’s winning image.

Birdlife Photography Encouragement Award 

The BLP Encouragement Award is awarded to a member who shows a high level of improvement in the quality of photos submitted during the year in the Entry or the Intermediate level competitions.  This award is made by the Committee, taking into account the recommendation of the Competition Coordinator.

The award(s) consist(s) of a parchment style certificate accompanied by an e-News article exhibiting a selection of the Member’s images.