Showcasing Kiwi brilliance since 2006, New Zealand Geographic’s Photographer of the Year competition is this country’s premier photography contest.

It’s a canvas for both amateurs and professionals, a medium to portray arresting Aotearoa landscapes, flora, fauna, people and everything else that matters in our land.

The esteemed judges have reviewed more than 6,000 stunning entries across nine categories – Aerial, Adventure, Astro, Built Environment, Landscape, Portrait, Society, Wildlife and extended PhotoStory, and narrowed the contenders down to 69 finalists.

They’re all up on now on nzgeo.com and one of these beauties will be crowned with the Ockham People’s Choice Award.

Ockham People Choice Awards: Vote Now!

Ockham CEO Will Deihl was very impressed by this year’s finalists. “It’s our sixth year as sponsor and it’s an incredible honour,” he says. “These photos are astonishing and I take my hat off to the incredibly talented people who took them.”

This is how it works.

1. Go to the website: nzgeo.com 

2. Scroll through the lot, making note of some of your personal faves.

3. Then go through again and vote.

4. Remember you only have five ‘votes’ – don’t make the mistake some do of being so blown away at what you see that you vote for the first five that pop up.

The votes will then be tallied and tabulated and the champ found. Last year Te Rawhitiroa Bosch nabbed the prize with a stunning portrait of Māori land court judge Alana Thomas.

CREDITS: Top picture: Tony Whitehead. Below (L-R): Simon Runting, Iain McGregor, Erica Sinclair, Tim Cuff, Darren Creighton, Kavan Chay, Kaitlin Groom, Graeme Murray, Olesia Feketa.