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Recent awards: 2025 Australian Photographic Prize

Sep 3

3 min read

The Australian Photographic Prize is one of Australia’s leading awards programs, judged by an expert panel of highly regarded photographers. It features a diverse range of categories, detailed feedback and livestream judging where the top entries are scored and discussed by a panel of leading photographic experts.


This year I (Coreena) was delighted to have two images awarded silver and three highly commended.


It’s always nice to be recognised with an award – and to receive the digital badge overlay to go with it – but for me the critique and feedback hold the greatest value, offering insights I can carry forward to refine my photography. I’m especially pleased with the suggestions I received because they all feel achievable – whether that’s something to consider while I’m shooting or adjustments to make in my processing.


Here are my awarded images along with excerpts of the judges’ feedback. If you discover something you can apply to your own images too, then I’ll be even more delighted.


Silver award - Wildlife category: "What a delightful scene, the strength of this image lies if the beautiful soft colour palette, with peaceful greens and the synchronicity of the seed heads and the bird itself. While the focus is spot on it appears as if the motion of the bird has not quite been frozen, using a slightly faster shutter speed would allow the view to drink in all that beautiful feather detail fully. The panoramic crop is well chosen adding to the dynamic scene."
Silver award - Wildlife category: "What a delightful scene, the strength of this image lies if the beautiful soft colour palette, with peaceful greens and the synchronicity of the seed heads and the bird itself. While the focus is spot on it appears as if the motion of the bird has not quite been frozen, using a slightly faster shutter speed would allow the view to drink in all that beautiful feather detail fully. The panoramic crop is well chosen adding to the dynamic scene."
Silver award - Wildlife category: "... Well done on capturing a beautiful angle on this sometimes difficult to photograph native." is the first sentence of the judges feedback. They go on to say "...a well chosen depth of field, to keep the front of your subject and focus, while also helping to reduce distractions of the busy background. The exposure however appears to be a little hot. Bringing that down a little bit, either during capture or in post production would bring some more detail into the very bright spines, without losing any detail in your shadows.
Silver award - Wildlife category: "... Well done on capturing a beautiful angle on this sometimes difficult to photograph native." is the first sentence of the judges feedback. They go on to say "...a well chosen depth of field, to keep the front of your subject and focus, while also helping to reduce distractions of the busy background. The exposure however appears to be a little hot. Bringing that down a little bit, either during capture or in post production would bring some more detail into the very bright spines, without losing any detail in your shadows.
Highly Commended - Landscape category: Learn more about this image in our blog post, including the notes about the judges feedback in my blog Busting the 'musts': A handheld stitched panorama at sunrise
Highly Commended - Landscape category: Learn more about this image in our blog post, including the notes about the judges feedback in my blog Busting the 'musts': A handheld stitched panorama at sunrise
Highly Commended - Wildlife category: The judges begin with "This is a very pleasing picture of this adorable pair. The exposure and dappled background are well handled." Following this, the comments focus on the techniques I may have used for image sharpening noting their observations of details loss and strange artefacts across the subject (something I'll review to rectify if I can). Their final words are encouraging "You've done a wonderful job of capturing some eye contact with your subjects, which can be hard when viewing wildlife from underneath".
Highly Commended - Wildlife category: The judges begin with "This is a very pleasing picture of this adorable pair. The exposure and dappled background are well handled." Following this, the comments focus on the techniques I may have used for image sharpening noting their observations of details loss and strange artefacts across the subject (something I'll review to rectify if I can). Their final words are encouraging "You've done a wonderful job of capturing some eye contact with your subjects, which can be hard when viewing wildlife from underneath".

Highly Commended - Wildlife category: For this image the judges said "You've captured a beautiful little moment showing this proud little bird perched in his favourite spot, judging by the deposits on the branch below." They go on with suggestions about exposure and details of the twigs toward the top of the frame - which they feel merge into the sky more than they'd like. The next recommendation relates to noise reduction and sharpening and the level of adjustments used - and the potential for unnatural effects in the image. Then the final comment "There has been thoughtful placement of your subject in relation to the horizon line, with a great choice of depth of field to blur out inconsequential elements. A very pleasing image, which with a few tweaks could be lifted even higher. Well done."
Highly Commended - Wildlife category: For this image the judges said "You've captured a beautiful little moment showing this proud little bird perched in his favourite spot, judging by the deposits on the branch below." They go on with suggestions about exposure and details of the twigs toward the top of the frame - which they feel merge into the sky more than they'd like. The next recommendation relates to noise reduction and sharpening and the level of adjustments used - and the potential for unnatural effects in the image. Then the final comment "There has been thoughtful placement of your subject in relation to the horizon line, with a great choice of depth of field to blur out inconsequential elements. A very pleasing image, which with a few tweaks could be lifted even higher. Well done."









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