Photo Competition

Conference attendees are invited to enter their photos into the 2024 Birds NZ photo competition.

There are 4 categories:

Open Category: a photo of a New Zealand bird(s)
Bird behaviour: a photo of a New Zealand bird(s) engaged in some activity, such as flying, feeding, displaying, fighting etc…
A New Zealand bird in moult: this is to publicise the society’s moult scheme and highlight the value of photographs (especially of birds in flight) – only birds that have a moult card qualify for entry. For more information on bird moult and to download a moult card go to the BirdsNZ website here: https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/schemes/moult-recording-scheme/
A marked New Zealand bird: this is to encourage photographers to report marked birds to the Banding Office – only records submitted to the Banding Office qualify for entry. For more information on banded birds go to the Department of Conservation bird banding website, ‘Falcon’, here: https://app.birdbanding.doc.govt.nz/

Detailed requirements:

Photos must be printed in colour or black-and-white, landscape or portrait format.
Sizes between:
5 x 7 (12 x 18 cm) smallest size,
A4 8 x 12 (21 x 30 cm) largest size
Photos must be of a New Zealand bird taken by the entrant who is a member of Birds New Zealand. The bird should be wild and not caged or restrained.
Photos must have been taken within the 24 months prior to the date of the 2024 Nelson conference (1 June 2024)
A maximum of 2 photos may be entered in each of the 4 categories
Photos may only have a minimal amount of software improvement, such as: cropping, sharpening, exposure and contrast. No features may be added or removed from the original capture.
Photos are to be brought to the conference in person and submitted to the photography competition desk. Photos are to be removed from display by the owners at the end of the conference.
No hardcopy photos are to be sent to Nelson organisers.
Each photo will have a number, a title, a date and place to identify it. The delegates name and cell phone number should be given to the photo desk and not be placed on the photo.
The four categories will be judged by a popular vote of BirdsNZ members attending the conference. Voting slips will be issued at Sunday morning tea and voting will end after Sunday lunch. Votes will be counted at 1pm. Prizes will be awarded for 1^st and 2^nd in each category.
The 2 specialist categories will be first vetted by a member of the society experienced in moult and banding.

A digital copy of your photo may be sent by email to the organiser to be placed on a rolling display for delegates to enjoy in the foyer during breaks for drinks and meals. For queries contact conference@birdsnz.org.nz.