The Finalists: Sony Alpha Awards 2020

26 June 2020

The finalists for the Sony Alpha Awards have recently been announced, and an announcement of the winners is due any day now, so keep an eye on the Capture website. The competition celebrates striking imagery from Australia and New Zealand, captured on Sony Alpha cameras and lenses.

In 2020, organisers added three new categories to “better represent the diversity of Sony photographers”. Entrants were able to submit their images across eleven categories, including; Astrophotography, City/Street, Compact Camera, Creative, Editorial, Landscape, Nature, Portrait, Seascape, Sports, and Wedding.

The Alpha Awards offer over $30,000 of Sony camera gear to win, while the winner of the Grand Prize takes home Sony digital imaging gear to the value of $10,000.

To view last year’s winning photographs, click this link.

The finalists

Astrophotography

Laurie Winter
Douglas Thorne
Tony Law

© , by Tony Law. Moonrise at Catherine Hill Bay. Catherine Hill Bay, NSW, Australia — © Tony Law. Moonrise at Catherine Hill Bay. Catherine Hill Bay, NSW, Australia

© , by Douglas Thorne. Milky Way over the Wanaka Tree. — © Douglas Thorne. Milky Way over the Wanaka Tree. "When I arrived at this location near midnight, I was the
only one there. It was quite a contrast compared to the normal flow of photographers during the day.
I stacked together 15 images, each one being a 4 second exposure."

© Laurie Winter. Mt Taranaki Eruption. The milky way rises behind Mt Taranaki on a freezing May evening. — © Laurie Winter. Mt Taranaki Eruption. The milky way rises behind Mt Taranaki on a freezing May evening. "The first photo I took after being in lock-down or restricted locally for over two months. Nothing like this display of nature to realise how lucky we are. 8 photos stacked."

City/Street

David Symonds
Stephen Godfrey
Alex Shang

© Alex Shang. The dog and the lady”. — © Alex Shang. The dog and the lady. "Sometimes, I imagine myself as a dog looking at the world from a
lower angle. It is very different. It gives me a feeling of observing the world from a third person’s point of view.
Shot in Jaipur India."

Compact Camera

Gary White
David Miller
Paul Regel

© David Miller. Red Crested Cardinal. — © David Miller. Red Crested Cardinal. "The Waimea Falls made a beautifully neutral backdrop to the
stunning colour of this bird."

© Gary White. On the Street Vienna. Street scene in Vienna taken just before the dog breaks free and causing havoc. — © Gary White. On the Street Vienna. Street scene in Vienna taken just before the dog breaks free
and causing havoc.

© Paul Regel. KL close living. Apartment building in KL with a textured facade.

Creative

Grant Galbraith
Matt Palmer
Sirjana Singh

© Grant Galbraith. The Arrival. Sydney skyline from Kurraba Point.

© Matt Palmer. Disposed. Documentation of illegal rubbish dumping in a forest area of Tasmania. — © Matt Palmer. Disposed. Documentation of illegal rubbish dumping in a forest area of Tasmania.
"The viewer is made to feel as I was - that viewing the forest without seeing all the rubbish
was near impossible."

© Sirjana Singh. Love is a journey. — © Sirjana Singh. Love is a journey. "They travelled all the way from America to elope in New Zealand. Just before they said their vows, I was feeling inspired and humbled by their love story and wanted to create a photo as a gift to thank them for choosing us to photograph a part of their journey in love."

Editorial

Ilan Wittenberg
Frank Romano
Jomel Bartolome

© Frank Romano. Joyful Mayhem. Image captured during Samaj Holi Festival in Nandgaon, India March 5th 2020. — © Frank Romano. Joyful Mayhem. Image captured during Samaj Holi Festival in Nandgaon, India March 5th 2020.

© Ilan Wittenberg. Timid. This portrait is part of the series: From here to Africa - The Maasai People. — © Ilan Wittenberg. Timid. This portrait is part of the series, From here to Africa - The Maasai People.

© Jomel Bartolome. Mahboula. Backstreets of Mahboula, where the migrant's workforce of Kuwait spends their free time. — © Jomel Bartolome. Mahboula. Backstreets of Mahboula, where the migrant's workforce of Kuwait
spends their free time.

Landscape

Jesse Little
Michael McGee
Alan Coligado

© Alan Coligado. Sossusvlei, Namibia.

© Jesse Little. Golden Glow - Annapurna South, Nepal. — © Jesse Little. Golden Glow - Annapurna South, Nepal. "Arriving at our final sunrise location we were disappointed to find morning fog had cut visibility to zero. As we were starting to joke about the anti-climatic end to our incredible 18 day journey, the clouds lifted allowing the gorgeous golden morning light through beaming onto Annapurna South."

© Michael McGee. Enchanted Forest. Light streams through moss clad Beech forest atop the Tararuas. — © Michael McGee. Enchanted Forest. Light streams through moss clad Beech forest atop the Tararuas.

Nature

Simon Runting
Lewis Burnett
Syd Reinhardt

© Lewis Burnett. Into the light. — © Lewis Burnett. Into the light. "A large female manta ray performs a feeding maneuver known as
"barrel rolling" on the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. These large rays are known to
congregate on the Ningaloo due to the vast quantities of plankton brought up from
deep water upwellings offshore."

© Simon Runting. A red billed gull taking a bath. This young red billed gull was having a tremendous time bathing and throwing water all over the place. Thanks to enough light for a high shutter speed I was able to freeze the water so it's head was visible through the halo of water. — © Simon Runting. A red billed gull taking a bath. This young red billed gull was having a tremendous
time bathing and throwing water all over the place. Thanks to enough light for a high shutter speed
I was able to freeze the water so it's head was visible through the halo of water.

© Syd Reinhardt. If you run, you will die. — © Syd Reinhardt. If you run, you will die. "We were on foot, on Safari with the legendary Stretch Ferreira
when we saw the lion in the distance. 'If we go on, he will charge,' cautioned Stretch.
'Promise me you won't run, because if you, you will die!' The lion was very angry,
this was the first of 5 times that we were charged."

Portrait

Judi Thies
Ryan Williams
Tony Law

© Judi Thies. Acheng. — © Judi Thies. Acheng. "I first saw Acheng walking towards me in Rundle Mall, Adelaide. She was tall and beautiful.
I spoke to her, and without hesitation, she agreed to pose for me, then and there."

© Ryan Williams. Split Scene. — © Ryan Williams. Split Scene. "I had never tried shooting split shots with the 85mm lens, I always just assumed it would be way too hard to hit focus while bobbing around on the surface with the water line constantly moving up and down through the middle of the frame, persistence paid off with this one. This is a single shot."

© Tony Law. Pelican Keeper. Photo taken at The Entrance, NSW, Australia. — © Tony Law. Pelican Keeper. Photo taken at The Entrance, NSW, Australia.

Seascape

Karl Dalyell
Oscar Hetherington
Rob Weir

Sports

Scott Barbour
Ryan Williams
Kian Bullock

Wedding

Benjamin Lane
Alex Olguin
Wenyuan Kuang

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