Bushwalk Australia

Congratulations to the winner of the 2009 Photo of the Year competition, with 8 votes:

• chopper - Twilight on High Moor, Western Arthurs

The key to all entries for this competition is below.

1 - Bird River, Tasmania, on a perfect day.
by tasadam.

2 - dawn over long tarns
by scrub master.

3 - Sunset on PB
by Koolix.

4 - Liffey Falls
by Rhino.

5 - Looking towards Cradle Mountain from the summit of Barn Bluff
by MJD.

6 - One of the many spectacular rock formations on the walk between Sisters Beach and Rocky Cape.
by tasadam.

7 - A typical Tasmanian creek scene
by tasadam.

8 - Crater Lake on a brisk day
by alliecat.

9 - Cradle Mountain resident
by tasadam.

10 - King William Range
by ILUVSWTAS.

11 - South West Tasmania, 4AM at Noyhener Beach. Boats shelter behind Mutton Bird Island as a thunderstorm approaches.
by tasadam.

12 - Twilight on High Moor, Western Arthurs
by chopper.

13 - Morning Mist on Lake Oberon
by chopper.

14 - Spotted Quoll, way down south
by tasadam.

15 - The forest within the forest - Styx fungus
by scavenger.

16 - Unfolding Grandeur
by eggs.

17 - Walking together
by tasadam.

18 - Mt Pelion East
by tasadam.

19 - The Southern Ocean meets land at Coal Bluff, South Cape Bay
by tas-man.

Well done 'chopper'! Your photo was certainly a gem amongst a treasure trove of fantastic pictures. You've won the 2009 cup!

I'd better go and run the randomiser on people who voted for this photo to select a random voter to win the second 2009 cup.

And the random winning voter is 'Mickeymoo'. Thanks for voting in the competition, Mickeymoo. You've also won a replica of the 2009 cup!

Congratulations Chopper on your winning image. Well done!
And congratulations to all contenders - quite a stunning collection of images.

I was very pleased to have had 8 of my images in with a chance.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote in this competition.

I'm astounded to have taken out the photo of the year with so many fantastic images! Thankyou very much, I shall treasure the mug. I really liked “Sunset on PB” and anybody on top of PB at sunset is serious about their outdoor pursuits. I was surprised that my other favourite “Dawn over Long Tarn” didn't receive more votes as it's a remarkable, subtle and yet powerfully evocative image. Congratulations to all the other finalists.
A bit of background about my image. It was taken on a beautiful evening at High Moor, Western Arthurs after 3 days of being punished by wind and rain. I had to dry my wet camera out in the sun that afternoon before taking any photos as it was wet through along with everything else I was carrying. Photo was taken on a Nikon D60, 35mm F1.8 at F9, slow shutter speed balanced on a pile of rocks using the timer. In Lightroom I straightened it up, added a graduated filter to darken the top third to bring out the subtly of the evening colour and formatted the crop to a landscape aspect ratio.
I hope to get down to Tasmania this year but might have to be satisfied with entering the Australian Monthly competition, although it’s hard to match it with the Tasmanian entries - you have a natural advantage! I’ve celebrated by upgrading to a Nikon D700 but it might just be that the portability and simplicity of the D60 was the key, only time will tell.

Thanks again.