Northern Beaches Council’s Underwater Photography Competition is returning for another year with submissions being accepted from Thursday 23 July to Sunday 16 August 2026.
This year’s theme is Where Protection Brings Life, complementing the Worlds Ocean Day 2026 theme of Strong Marine Protected Areas for our Blue Planet. The overall winner of the competition will win the coveted Valerie Taylor Underwater Photography Award for Excellence.
With a prize pool of $3500, participants can submit their underwater images taken from any of the 5 aquatic reserves on the Northern Beaches. The competition celebrates all skill levels and is open to amateur and professional photographers and videographers.
Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins said we have some talented photographers on the beaches and it is great to see them capture the wonderful marine life.
“Now in its sixth year, the competition has established itself as great visual avenue to celebrate our spectacular underwater world
“We are in the fortunate position of having 80 km of iconic coastline along the Northern Beaches, including 24 ocean and harbour beaches supporting our 5 aquatic reserves.
With 7 themed categories, entrants can enter any or all of 7 applicable categories but submit only one image or reel per category. Judges will also select a shortlist of finalists for the public voting in the People’s Choice Award category, which will be available online for voting from 27 August to 20 September 2026.
For underwater photography tips and tricks, Council is holding 3 immersive workshops hosted by award-winning photographer, former judge and Underwater Photography Competition finalist Pete McGee. Book your spot on: Saturday 11 July at Fishermans Beach rock platform, Collaroy; Saturday 18 July specifically for 12 – 17-year-old photographers at Manly Library or Saturday 1 August at North Narrabeen rock platform, North Narrabeen.
Categories:
1. Behaviour: Capturing natural behaviour of marine life
2. Macro: Getting up close to the subject matter
3. Threated Species: Portraying the vulnerability of a threatened species found, for example: black rod cod, grey nurse shark, green turtle
4. Human Connection: Capturing the connection between a person/s and marine life (flora / fauna / megafauna), positive or negative. This could include monitoring citizen science projects or research undertaken in one of the Northern Beaches aquatic reserves.
5. Seascapes (wide angle): Capturing the raw beauty of the underwater vista in one of the Northern Beaches aquatic reserves.
6. Youth: For the young budding photographers aged 12 to 17 years old. The winner will be recognised as the Underwater Youth Photographer of the Year 2026.
7. Reels: Capturing the wonder of the biodiversity in our underwater world. Reel length is 15 to 30 seconds duration.
For more information about the competition visit our website.