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1. How to enter

Step 1:  

Make sure you have read the Terms and Conditions of Entry and familiarise yourself with the requirements, including for each category.

Submissions close Sunday 15 September, midnight.

Step 2:

Take your winning photo or video reel.

Step 3:

Complete the entry form below.

You will receive a confirmation email on receipt of your submission.

If you need technical assistance to complete the form, please email website@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au

For any specific queries, please email robynne.millward@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au

2. Eligibility

There is a limit of 3 entries per photographer. Plus 1 reel only, if applicable.

All entries must be the original work of the entrant and produced during the period of 1 January – 15 September 2024.

Entrants of the Youth category must be aged 12 – 17 years on 15 September 2024.

Those 18 years and under must have a parent or guardian consent.

Images and Reels entered must not have been judged as a first placed winner in another major photography competition within the last 12 months prior to 15 September 2024.

Employees of Northern Beaches Council (the competition organiser) are not permitted to enter the exhibition. Children of Northern Beaches Council employees are permitted to enter.

3. Images of artwork

The selection of work is based on the images supplied. Please ensure images are clear and true and of good quality. Please do not have any text or © on the image itself. This may lead to the image being disregarded. 

Entrants must not do anything to harm or distress an animal or damage its habitat in our aquatic reserves in an attempt to secure an image or video clip.

Split images (half-in, half-out of the water) are accepted.

All submissions must be natural photographs. Highly edited images may not be favourably viewed by the judges.

The same work cannot be entered into more than one category.

All submissions must be free of borders, watermarks or signatures.

Generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) cannot be used to create an image or to add anything to an image.

The artwork images must comply with the following.

  • Minimum of 1 image and maximum 3 images
  • File type must be in .jpg or .png format only
  • Maximum file size of 5 MB

The video reels must be of the highest quality and comply with the following.

  • Length of the reel – minimum 15, maximum 30 seconds
  • Only one submission per entry
  • Video submissions must be 9:16 vertical reel format sizing

4. Copyright

Copyright remains the property of the photographer. The photographer agrees, however, that supplied images of the work/s and/or photographs of the work/s may be digitally reproduced for the following purposes only, but not limited to:

  • Northern Beaches Council website for online exhibitions only.
  • Northern Beaches Council social media channels.
  • Northern Beaches Council promotional posters and flyers, reports and archives.
  • Northern Beaches Council will always credit the photographer and maintain the integrity of the work, i.e. maintain the original appearance of the image and not or distort the image, or overlay text or images. Please note images may be cropped for marketing purposes.

5. Judging

The Competition closes Sunday 15 September, midnight. Late entries will not be accepted.

Eligible entries will be assessed by a panel of qualified judges.

The image supplied will be judged in its original size and quality.

The judges’ decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into. All winners will be announced on Thursday 28 November 2024.

The judges reserve the right to not award a prize should there be insufficient entries.

Judges reserve the right to switch images to categories that they deem more appropriate.

All prizes will be awarded to the winners chosen by the judges, with the exception of the People’s Choice Awards. People’s Choice Awards will be awarded through an online poll which is open to the public to vote.

The 'Valerie Taylor Underwater Photography Award for Excellence' 2024 will be judged from the following category winners and runner ups, with the exception of the Youth category.

Categories include:

  1. Behaviour: Capturing natural behaviour of marine life
  2. Macro: Getting up close to your subject matter
  3. Threated Species. Portraying the vulnerability of a threatened species found in the Northern Beaches Aquatic Reserves e.g. Black Rod Cod, Grey Nurse Shark, Green Turtle
  4. Human Connection: Capturing the connection between a person/s and marine life (flora / fauna / mega fauna), positive or negative. This could include monitoring citizen science projects or research undertaken in one of our Northern Beaches aquatic reserves.
  5. Seascapes (wide angle): Capturing the raw beauty of the underwater vista in one of our Northern Beaches aquatic reserves.
  6. Youth: For the budding young photographers aged 12 to 17 years old. The winner will be recognised as the Underwater Youth Photographer of the Year 2024.
  7. Reels (Love our Locals): Capturing the wonder of the biodiversity in our underwater world.
    • Youth (12 - 17 years)
    • Open (18+ years)
  8. People’s Choice: Voted online by the public.