Your Best Shot Jan 2025: The winners!
Your Best Shot is a photo competition open to Australian residents. There's a different theme every couple of months, and a selection of the winning shots will be published in AP mag and online.
Each issue, AP's Editor Mike O'Connor will choose six images to be published both in print and online, with both a winner and a runner-up selected. Our winner will also receive an amazing prize thanks to Peak Design.
You can find out all the details for entry and the themes for 2025 here.
Jan 2025
Theme: Australia
One of our entrants wrote we’d have a tough time judging this theme, and they were dead right – there’s nothing quite as diverse as Australia, and capturing one image that speaks to it ain’t easy.
So, as well as the ‘classic’ Australiana shots, we were looking for images that really spoke to what it means to live in the great southern land. These were our picks this issue.
This issue's winner
Ethan Hudson, The long and winding road
Editor’s comment: While there were many fantastic images entered this month, something about this classic composition by Ethan Hudson really stood out.
True, it’s a scene from the Flinders we’ve seen many times before, but it’s a beautiful take on it, with that wonderful late afternoon light bringing a lovely glow to the scene.
I liked the depth in the image and the subtle but effective editing that has been used to emphasise the light throughout.
It’s also an image that’s very Australian – that sense of wide-open space, the harsh red landscape, and the feeling of warmth you can only find here.
Technical details
Nikon D3400, Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-f/5.6 lens @ 23mm. 1/250s @ f3.8, ISO 100.
Highly commended
Peter Roupas, Resilience
Editor’s comment: Peter Roupas’ image Resilience was taken about a month after a fire had gone through a forest in the Otways.
“Initially, the forest all around looked dead, but on looking closer, new life was springing out from many of the totally blackened native trees,” he recalls.
Bushfires are a part of Australian life, and Peter Roupas’ shot does a nice job of capturing the sense of destruction and renewal many of us will be familiar with. This image works with its nice contrasting tones and simple, effective composition with no distractions. Well done.
Technical details
Panasonic Lumix GX8, Lumix 12-35mm f2.8 lens @ 27mm. 1/800s @ f2.8, ISO 2000.
Special mentions
How I did it: I was recently on a trip crossing the Simpson Desert west to east, and the never-ending sight before us of endless dunes was breathtaking. Every time we crossed one… there was another, with the endless road running off to the horizon.
Technical details
Canon 7D Mark II, EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II lens @ 55mm. 1/320s @ f10, ISO 100.
How I did it: Dawn at Uluru, as the low light accentuates the silhouette of Uluru.
Technical details
Sony A7 Mark II, FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS lens @ 105mm. 1/125s @ f4, ISO 400.
How I did it: My friend is a farmer who does not like his photo taken. I noticed his hat which is normally firmly planted on his head sitting on a log. His hat with his trusty bike in the background are the essence of the farmer, and I felt the essence of Australia.
Technical details
Nikon D750, Nikon 20mm f1.8 lens. 1/200s @ f7.1, ISO 100.
How I did it: This photo was taken from Narrabeen Ocean Pool whilst my Daughter and I were on a camping holiday. My Daughter is a keen photographer and she was waiting for that perfect shot whilst sitting on the edge of the pool.
Technical details
Olympus OM-1, 12-100mm f4 lens @ 12mm. 1/200s @ f10, ISO 200.