We’d like you to meet the local wildlife photographers who will judge our 2024 photo competition…

Jess Taunton

Jess is an experienced photography guide, photographer and videographer. Her photos have been published widely including Australian Geographic, Outdoor Magazine, and numerous travel, in-flight and sailing publications. Jess was one of the owners, and a lead photography guide for Chris Bray Photography, one of Australia’s largest photo tour companies, running tours to over 15 destinations around the world and teaching thousands of guests the art of photography and videography. As a wilderness guide and keen adventurer, Jess has used her skills to share her many adventures including becoming one of the first people to sail a junk-rigged sailboat through the infamous Northwest Passage above Canada & Alaska. Jess now calls the Bega Valley home and has started a local touring business, Navigate Expeditions.
Awards and achievements include: Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the year 2017, shortlisted for ‘Our Impact’ category. Christmas Island Tourism destination promotional video team filming and editing, winning “Best Destination Video” for the 2019 GWN Top Tourism Town Awards. Published photographer for NSW National Parks and Wildlife. Expedition photographer/guide for Chris Bray Photography. Photography host on-board APT, AURORA & Australian Geographic cruise & expeditions.

Harrison Warne

Harrison grew up on the south coast and surrounded himself with nature from a young age, spending much of his childhood in the bush learning the behaviour of insects, reptiles, birds and mammals. He began wildlife photography as a teenager and has been passionate about using photography and film as an educational medium for over 10 years. He was working as an Ecologist in Queensland, but has now returned home and is working with Steve Sass and Envirokey.

Photography Awards include: Overall winner Nature Conservancy photography competition (2017). Overall winner and third place Atlas of Life photography competition (2018). Twice Finalist in Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year (2019). First place wildlife category Nature Conservancy photography competition (2021).

Harrison Warne is a local Sapphire Coast photographer and judge of our 2022 photo competition

Bob Georgeson

Bob has a general interest in complex systems. He is a committee member of Atlas of Life in the Coastal Wilderness. iNaturalist Projects include Beauty Point Nature Reserve, Life in the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens, Tree hollows and significant habitat trees in Australia, Australian Marine & Freshwater Fishing Entanglements, Budawang Coast Atlas of Life, Montreal Goldfield Biodiversity, University of New South Wales Arid Zone Research Station, Fowlers Gap and Fungimap Australia. See Bob’s iNat images here. Volunteer National Parks and Wildlife Service Shorebird Recovery Program. Member of Far South Coast Birdwatchers and Friends of Bermagui Forests. Bob lives near Wallaga Lake, Far South Coast, New South Wales, Australia.

Art CV anonymous waves, Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, Internet Archive

Deb Taylor

Deb is a naturalist, photographer and writer who, although born and bred in Cobargo on the NSW far south coast, spent much of her life living and working in Sydney. In 2011 she made a permanent move back to her home town and, over the past 13 years, has spent much of her time visually documenting the flora and fauna of her local area but focusing largely on the under-studied and often overlooked insects and spiders which play such a crucial role in our ecosystems. When she is not undertaking her own observational and photographic fieldwork or adding her observations to the iNaturalist data base Deb leads small walking groups so that she can share her knowledge of local ecosystems and the flora and fauna that can be found within them. Deb also writes and publishes a free monthly newsletter – NATURA Far South Coast – so that she can share her passion for south coast biodiversity, and her ever-growing knowledge of species and their connectivity within both our wilderness and urban areas, with a broader audience.

Introducing the judges for our 2024 photo competition