What a tough choice the panel of judges had this year! We had everything from cheeky kangaroos to a church and a few sunsets and beaches thrown in too.
It was a very close call this year, but based upon the judging categories of originality, creativity, impact and artistic merit, we are pleased to announce this year’s photo contest winners.
Loving Lorikeets by Lauren Doss
First place goes to Lauren Doss from Virgina Tech who was on the North Queensland 2011 program with her photograph Loving Lorikeets, pictured right. Lauren receives a Marmot waterproof jacket donated by Hexagon International in Fiji and a Flip Video UltraHD donated by South Sea Cruises in Fiji.
Second place goes to Jessica Ellison from Ohio State who was on the North Queensland 2011 program with her photograph Rainbow in the Outback. Jessica wins an UGG Australia $180 gift certificate for luxury sheepskin classic tall boots.
Third place goes to Alyssa Lai from the University of Florida who was on the North Queensland 2011 program with her photograph Endangered Cassowary. Thanks to Lychee Tree Holiday Apartments in Australia, Alyssa wins a Shutterfly $100 gift certificate.
Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island by Andrew Tirpak
All three winners also receive an EvoShield performance shirt and flatbill cap donated by EvoShield and four Lonely Planet guidebooks donated by Lonely Planet.
This year we also had a new award called the People’s Choice Award sponsored by Northern Greenhouse Cairns whereby the photograph that had the most Facebook ‘Likes’ wins a gift pack. The gift pack includes a boomerang, T-shirt, eco-friendly water bottle, luggage tag, key ring, snow globe and USB pen drive. We are pleased to announce that the winner of this award is Andrew Tirpak from Ohio State University with his photo Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island, pictured left. This photo received a fantastic 46 ‘likes’!
Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all participants, sponsors and voters. We will be running the competition again next summer so if you have another photo you want to enter, then watch this space!
