Inspiring and Supporting Photographers of Australian Birds
Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded for results in each level of every competition held each year. These awards are based on the results from both Mystery Reviewers and Member Voting, and competition participation. The medals, in their display cases, are shown below.
Our annual awards may also include the Most Improved Photographer of the Year, for photographers moving from Entry Level to Intermediate and/or Intermediate to Advanced in our competitions, based upon the quality of photos submitted in the new competition level during the year. Recipients are chosen by the Photo Competition Coordinator. The award is a parchment-style Certificate.
BirdLife Photography is excited to announce the medal winners for our Photo Competitions held in 2022. Our competition Coordinator, Gary King, says:
Advanced Level was very close with 8 members within 5 points of the Gold Medal for the year. This bodes well for another exciting competition next year between our Advanced Level photographers. It is proposed that all the medal winners at Entry Level and Intermediate Level compete at higher levels in 2023. I would like to remind members that in the point-scoring, entrants receive one point for each competition they enter. This can make a difference if points are close towards the end of the year. Members should be wary of submitting two very similar images of the same species in the same competition. I made this mistake in the final competition this year with one image scoring 40 points and the other 15 points; if I had only submitted one image it is likely that most of the points would have gone to that image. Finally, I cannot emphasise enough the value of spending time in the field if you wish to improve your bird photography. Our Entry Level Gold Medallist for 2022, Amy Rakkusol, has only been photographing birds for a little over two years. Amy spends a lot of time in the field and her photographic development and results speak for themselves.
Advanced Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Mary Wheeler
Silver medal – awarded to Jason Moore
Bronze medal – awarded to Con Duyvestyn
Bronze medal – awarded to Peter Scholer
Intermediate Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Natalie Murray
Silver medal – awarded to Diana Womersley
Bronze medal – awarded to Jacob Crisp
Entry Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Amy Rakkusol
Silver medal – awarded to Indrani Pathirage
Bronze medal – awarded to Beverley Oliver
Bronze medal – awarded to Astrid Ross
Encouragement Awards
The BirdLife Photography 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.
The committee and competition coordinator would like to congratulate our recipients of the award for 2022, Fran Solly and Sandra Lewis.
BirdLife Photography is excited to announce the medal winners for our Photo Competitions held in 2021. Our competition Coordinator, Gary King, says:
Congratulations to all our medal winners for 2021 and a big thank you to all our members who entered the competitions. At all levels it was necessary to produce a high quality image to win a competition. Overall the standard of entries continues to improve and I am sure that this in part due to the competitions making us think more about what makes a good image. I hope you all are now starting to look for suitable entries for next year’s competitions.
Advanced Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Jason Moore
Silver medal – awarded to Steve Mantle
Bronze medal – awarded to Nathan Watson
Intermediate Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Jane Putland
Silver medal – awarded to John Eley
Bronze medal – awarded to Graham Gall
Entry Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Sylvia Wallis
Silver medal – awarded to Linda Waters
Bronze medal – awarded to Chunfang Liu
Up and Coming Photographers
The Up & Coming Photographer certificates are awarded to members who show promise, improvement and consistency during a calendar year. They are given to the photographers who finish just outside the annual medal winners in our annual competitions at Intermediate and Entry Level.
For 2021 both recipients finished only one point behind the bronze medallists. Congratulations to Up & Coming Photographers certificate winners Michiko Iida (Intermediate Level) and Robyn Elliott (Entry Level). Both Michiko and Robyn have been invited to compete at the next higher level in the 2022 competitions.
Robyn was very positive about going up a level and already has submitted entries in the current competition.
Michiko is excited about the prospect of going up a level and is considering if she is ready for the challenge of competing at the Advanced level.
Both Michiko and Robyn will be presented with certificates featuring one of their own images.
Advanced Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Bill Harding
Silver medal – awarded to Jason Moore
Bronze medal – awarded to Stephen Garth
Intermediate Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Chris Young
Silver medal – awarded to Linda Unwin
Bronze medal – awarded to Mary Wheeler
Entry Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Graham Gall
Silver medal – awarded to Diana Womersley
Bronze medal – awarded to Donna Evans
Most Improved Photographer of the Year certificates were awarded to Con Duyvestyn, who moved to Advanced level, and Mary Wheeler, who moved to Intermediate level.
Advanced Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Bill Harding
Silver medal – awarded to Tim Van Leeuwen
Bronze medal – awarded to Doug Castle
Bronze medal – awarded to Stephen Garth
Intermediate Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Con Duyvestyn
Silver medal – awarded to Gary King
Bronze medal – awarded to Linda Joseph
Entry Level Competition
Gold medal – awarded to Jennifer Carr
Silver medal – awarded to Mary Wheeler
Bronze medal – awarded to Graham Gall
Advanced Level
Intermediate Level
Entry Level
Most Improved Photographer of the Year
There was no obvious candidate for this award in 2018, so it has not been awarded.
The easiest way to contact us is by emailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Our People page, in the About Us section, contains email links to each of the committee members.
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