A breathtaking macro photograph of cauliflower soft coral has claimed the overall winner title in the 2025 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year contest. Western Australian photographer Ross Gudgeon captured the award-winning image, titled "Fractal Forest," in the waters of Lembeh Strait in Indonesia, using an innovative underwater lens to reveal an extraordinary inside-out perspective of the coral rarely seen by human eyes.
Gudgeon's winning photograph showcases the intricate beauty of cauliflower soft coral, named for its characteristic puffy texture created by numerous small, rounded, bump-like polyps. The unique perspective was made possible by the Nauticam EMWL, an underwater version of a probe or insect eye lens that allowed the photographer to thread through the coral branches without causing damage. "Normally, dives in Lembeh Strait are full of weird and wonderful critters, but on this one, there was very little of interest to photograph," Gudgeon recalls. "At one point, I found myself surrounded by many clumps of cauliflower soft coral, which, from the outside, aren't terribly photogenic as they just look like lumps of red cauliflower."
The competition attracted nearly 2,000 photographs from photographers across 18 countries, all celebrating the diverse fauna and flora of Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the New Guinea region. Winners were announced across 10 different categories, showcasing everything from threatened species to astrophotography. Isabella Rogers from South Australia claimed the Junior winner title with her charming image "Perched," featuring two galahs perched on a lamp post during the early morning light in Hewett, South Australia.
Among the category winners, several standout images captured both the beauty and challenges facing wildlife in the region. Etienne Littlefair's "Red Dawn" won the Threatened Species category, featuring a rare ghost bat in flight captured on New Year's Day 2025. Talia Greis took the Macro category with "Liftoff," showing a paper nautilus hitching a ride on a jellyfish during one of nature's remarkable vertical migrations. Sara Corlis won the Our Impact category with "Skink in a Tight Spot," documenting a small garden skink trapped in a brick wall at her home.
The competition also celebrated dramatic wildlife behavior and natural phenomena. Rachelle Mackintosh's monochrome winner "Party Streamer" captured an orca joyfully leaping from the Bremer Canyon with its prey's intestines hanging from its mouth like a festive decoration. Charles Davis won the Animals in Nature category with "PJ & Crabs," showing a Port Jackson shark cruising over thousands of spider crabs gathered during their vulnerable shell-shedding phase on the full moon.
Astrophysotography entries highlighted the region's spectacular night skies, with Marley Butler's "Oberon Kenobi" taking the category win. The image captures Tasmania's rugged mountain landscape with pandani plants silhouetted against the galactic core, airglow, and dancing aurora beneath the Magellanic Clouds. Runner-up Kavan Chay's "Crown of Light" documented a global auroral phenomenon from sea stacks near Christchurch, New Zealand.
The South Australian Museum, which organizes the contest, is displaying the winning photographs in a special exhibition running through February 1, 2026. Visitors can view the complete collection of extraordinary images that showcase the remarkable biodiversity and natural beauty of the Australia-Pacific region. The People's Choice winner will be announced in January, adding another dimension to this celebration of nature photography excellence. As Gudgeon concluded about his winning image, "The moral of my story is that beauty can be found anywhere," a sentiment that perfectly captures the spirit of this prestigious competition.
