CANBERRA snapper Louisa Kelland has won a top prize in The Nature Conservancy Australia’s photography competition.

Now in its third year, the competition saw a record 16,120 entries received between September 26 and November 4. The competition aims to inspire Australians to engage with nature through photography, and celebrate Australia’s natural beauty with categories including landscape, water and wildlife.

The winners will share more than $5000 of prizes including $2400 in Ted’s Cameras vouchers, a weekend getaway in Melbourne, and their images will be featured in the January/February 2017 edition of the wilderness adventure magazine, “Wild”.

Kelland says: “Photography has always been a passion of mine and I’ve loved the chance to showcase what I can do.”

One of the judges, nature photographer Esther Beaton says: “There were many entries with long boardwalks extending into the sea, with sunsets and people, but on close examination, Louisa’s photo differed from all the others and captured a brief, but special moment in time…

“The use of colour tops off the image. Blue and amber are complementary colours, and in this case, are not over manipulated, but are left diffused to create a soft mood.”

Other category winners were:

Landscape – Kristy Morrell from  Barmera SA;

Mobile – Joshua Murphy, Bassendean WA;

Urban – Hai Pham, Caroline Springs VIC ;

Water – Mark Seabury, Kurrajong NSW;

Wildlife – Kyle Behrend, Lancefield VIC;

And  People’s Choice – Alexis Buenaflor, Sydney NSW.