2025 photographers


2025 Photographers

Photographers featured in the 2025 calendar


A wombat sits in the middle of a white snow field with a small dusting of snow on its snout.

Cover: Snow on the Central Highlands, Tasmania – Gill Dayton

Gill pulled over in her car and snuck out quietly to capture this wintry wombat. She heads to the snow for photography any time she can. 'It makes everything look so clean and beautiful. If you have a subject in among that white, it really stands out.

A yellow and orange sun rises into the sky while a forest covered in fog has treetops and shadows show through it.

January: Sunrise over Mornington, Western Australia – Bernard Shaw

After pulling over in the early morning fog, Bernard realised something special was happening. 'It was this massive glow around us.' As a professional photographer, he sees a lot of great photos. But he was blown away by what he captured on his drone, 'This is once-in-a-lifetime stuff.’

A dark blue waterspout rises out of a flat ocean to connect to white clouds high in the sky.

February: Waterspout in Rapid Creek, Darwin – Cathryn Vasseleu

Cathryn wasn't sure what the far-off vertical line on the horizon was. She moved her camera from the birds she was photographing and zoomed in for a closer look. It turned out to be this towering waterspout.

A huge purple and white lightning bolt arcs across the sky while the Sydney CBD is lit up on the ground.

March: Lightning strike in Sydney, New South Wales – Philipp Glanz

'A good photo waits for no-one' is a mantra Philipp knows all too well. Luckily he was poised on his balcony one stormy night for this beauty. 'A shot where you can see the skyline and a lightning strike with all the branches…I was happy when that happened.'

A solar eclipse causes a black image to be lit up in the middle by a circular halo of light. The rays of the sun are visible in a circle as the sun is almost entirely blocked by the moon.

April: Solar eclipse in Exmouth, Western Australia – Barend Becker

It's 4 decades since the last hybrid eclipse in Australia. Barend took an 8-week cross-country odyssey to capture this photo of it. Was it worth it? 'I was actually in tears when it was happening', he said. 'It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.'

The cracked red dirt on the desert flats of Kimberley are lit up by a storm on the left of the image. In the middle is a rainbow and a lightning bolt crossing over each other. On the right the last rays of sunlight as the sun sets shines orange and red past the horizon.

May: Rainbow and lightning in Derby, Western Australia – JJ Rao

Sunset, rainbow, lightning, anticrepuscular rays – this shot JJ took at the iconic Kimberley mudflats has something for everyone. But his favourite part? 'The rain had just passed through … you can see the reflection of the lightning in the little puddles of water.'

The full arc of a fogbow low in the sky goes across a green field at a farm in Tuena, New South Wales. The fogbow is mostly white, with subtle changes in colour like a rainbow showing.

June: Fogbow in Tuena, New South Wales – David Metcalf

David was out hunting rougher weather when fog lifting over farmland revealed this rare sight. A 20-year veteran storm-chaser, this was only the third time he'd seen a fogbow. 'It was kind of like a white rainbow, but a bit closer to the ground than you would typically see from a rainbow.'

Streaky clouds are highlighted across the sky by orange and yet rays of light. The blue of the sky can be seen peeking through some of the clouds. While the dark outlines of trees and suburban homes cast shadows on the bottom of the image.

July: Streaky clouds in Yamanto, Queensland – Sharon Smolenski

What started out as an ordinary trip to the dog park quickly became something more. Sharon had planned to take a few photos of the kids and the dog, but then she looked up. 'I'd never actually seen clouds like that before. They just overtook the sky with the sun setting behind them', she said.

A massive multi-layered storm cloud rises to cover the right side of the image. Amidst the clouds there are streaks of purple and white lightning arcing out across the sky. On the bottom-left side of the image there are flat rocky beaches and the ocean.

August: Lightning strike in San Remo, Victoria – Anna Carson

For hobby photographer Anna, taking photos can provide an escape. After one truly hard day she saw a supercell storm approaching and headed outside. 'I didn't mind just standing there in the peace, watching it come across and catching the strikes on camera', she said.

A large flat plain of farmland with some houses and trees scattered throughout have a huge dust and storm cloud approaching them. Underneath the band of grey clouds is darkness and shadows, while there is more light where the clouds have yet to reach.

September: Dust cloud over Merredin, Western Australia – Grant Stainer

Grant brought his drone down to safety just before the big winds hit Merredin Peak. He'd headed there to capture this ominous storm rolling across the landscape. A long-time photographer, this was his 20th year entering the calendar competition.

A bright blue sky, green mangroves, and a rocky sea beach. In the distance are bright white clouds and rain. In the middle of the rain is a colourful rainbow.

October: Rainbow and storm in Nightcliff, Northern Territory – Patch Clapp

A weather photographer and Bureau community information officer, Patch said he’s always ‘semi-ready to go' with his camera in the wet season. When he woke up to thunder rumbling, he headed to the mangroves to catch this early morning storm with its bright rainbow.

A small section of green grass is dwarfed by Mount Beerwah rising to a peak in the middle of the photo. Fog has settled like a white blanket of clouds over the mountain, with wind pushing the fog in one direction as it breaks on the rocky slopes.

November: Fog over Mount Beerwah, Queensland – Billy Tillott

As Billy drove his daughter through backroads to avoid traffic near the Glasshouse Mountains they saw the unusual sight of fog blanketing this extinct volcano. His own phone broken, he reached for his daughter's, saying 'Oh my God, I've got to take a photo'.

A small boat sits on still water, casting a small shadow of itself. Behind the boat the Aurora australis throws colours of green, yellow and purple all throughout the sky. The water reflects the light, giving the illusion of the aurora stretching across both the sky and the sea.

December: Aurora australis at Squeaking Point, Tasmania – Rusli Hashim

It took Rusli a year of planning, 20 m of wading and a sleepless night to capture his dream picture. He snuck into the river as the aurora brought colour to the heavens and the still water reflected the beauty in the sky. Within minutes the sight was gone, but the memory remains.