A total of 307 entries were received, all of which were taken in the Western Local Land Services area and linked to the theme of ‘What makes our outback special?’

The winners were announced at Agfair in Broken Hill on Friday, with Abbie Kelly proving her talent by taking out the colour and black and white primary school student categories.

Abbie was one of the many success stories to emerge from this year’s competition, which was celebrating its 20th anniversary since it first ran in 1999. 

There were two new categories for this year’s competition, with the first being open only to professional photographers and the second, titled ’20 years of Life and Light’, open to photos that had been entered previously in the competition. 

The competition was thrilled to have the highly talented Emma Moss, of Life on a Station Instagram and Facebook fame, be one of the judges. 

Ms Moss, who earlier this year was profiled on ABC television show Landline, jumped at the opportunity to be involved with the competition and was impressed by the level and number of entries. 

“This competition does a wonderful job of showcasing the beauty and diversity of the Western region and can only help attract people to it,” Ms Moss said. 

“There are a lot of talented photographers that either live in the region or have travelled through it and it is great this competition has been around for so long for them to express their talents. 

Ms Moss said was very impressed with the open black and white category, which she found particularly hard to judge, so gave a special mention to all the photographers that entered. 

“I found there was great variety with the photos in all the categories and also great originality,” she said.

The Life and Light Photo Competition was run jointly by Western Local Land Services and Western Landcare NSW. 

To view the full gallery of 307 photos that were entered in this year’s competition, head to www.lifeandlight.com.au.

· Colour open – “Thirsty Goats at the Trough” by Jane Smith.

· Colour secondary – “Stare Off” by Charli Smith.

· Colour primary – “Sunset & Sunflowers” by Abbie Kelly.

· Black and white open – “Well Oiled Machine” by Mel Adams.

· Black and white high school – “Tired Pup” by Georgia Bragg.

· Black and White Primary – “Junction Mine” by Abbie Kelly.

· Digitally enhanced – “Sunset in a Glass” by Brock Martin.

· 20 Years of Life and Light – “Windows” by Simon Seppelt.

· Professional – “Vast” by Andrew Barnes.

· People’s choice – “When the Dust Settles” by Jenna Shirt.