All photographs must be of natural fauna, flora or wilderness and must have been taken in the ANZANG bioregion (Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and the New Guinea region). The region of New Guinea is limited to the west by the Wallace Line (the bio-geographical line extending between Bali and Lombok northward through the Makassar Strait between Borneo and Sulawesi). To the east the New Guinea region includes the Bismarck and Solomon Archipelagos and islands of the South West Pacific.

There are ten sections in the Competition:

1. Animal Behaviour – the subject(s) must be engaged in natural activity.

2. Animal Portrait – the subject must be photographed close up, occupying at least 30% of the frame.

3. Botanical – this may be a portrait or habitat shot.

4. Underwater – this may be a portrait or habitat shot.

5. Wilderness – the landscape or seascape must have minimal evidence of human interference.

6. Threatened Species – the subject(s) may be photographed in any of the following ways: in portrait, engaged in natural activity, or in its natural habitat. All entries selected in this category (flora or fauna) must be verified by an official reference, valid for any of the previous five years prior to the date of close of entries. This can be obtained from the country’s state or federal government agency concerned with verifying the subject’s threatened, rare, vulnerable or endangered status.

7. Black & White – the subject(s) must be chosen that would qualify for any of the first six categories. This category includes all monochrome photography including sepia-toned and infrared photographs.

8. Interpretive – the subject(s) must be chosen that would qualify for categories 1 to 6. Entries in this section must have their origins in nature photography, but can be manipulated in any way. Photographers are encouraged to experiment graphically with their images. There is no limit to the number of exposures used, or to the graphic treatments applied in this section.

9. Our Impact – the image must depict human impact on the natural environment, be it terrestrial, marine or atmospheric. This impact may be negative or positive. The choice of subjects is broad, including any subject that would qualify for categories 1 to 6, or may extend beyond these to subjects relating to pollution and climate change.

10. Junior – the entrant must be under 18 years of age at the date of close of entries. Entries must fit the criteria of any of the other nine categories. Junior photographers are welcome to enter in any of the other nine categories instead of the Junior category.

Up to four images may be entered in each of the ten sections. The judges will choose a winner and runner-up for each category. Entries not placed but of a particularly high standard will form the basis of the subsequent exhibition.