A moment when it all came together bags top prize for New Zealand photographer Richard Robinson

ANIMAL PORTRAIT WINNER: LEOPARD ANEMONE by RIchard Robinson

"Just one of those moments when it all comes together." That's Richard Robinson's explanation for how he captured his award-winning photograph of a Leopard anemone off the Poor Knight's Islands.

"I saw a dozen or so anemones floating in the blue and this one was so symmetrical. I drifted over slowly and fired off a frame before the water pressure pushed it away."

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR RUNNER-UP: SPAWNING JEWEL ANEMONES Richard Robinson

Robinson, a former New Zealand Herald photographer, won the Animal Portrait section of the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year for the anemone picture and the Human Impact section for a rather harrowing picture of dead penguins, as well as being runner-up in the animal behaviour section, too.

HUMAN IMPACT WINNER: THE WRECK OF THE PENGUINS by RIchard Robinson

The overall competition winner was Australian Ben Blanche for his dramatic photograph of a bush fire at Mt Blarney, taken in the horrific period over last summer.

OVERALL and LANDSCAPE WINNER: BORDER FIRE MT BARNEY by Ben Blanche

Robinson had just returned from Port Ross in the Sub-Antarctic Islands at the weekend when he opened the letter telling him of the wins, which were awarded in Adelaide last Thursday.

MONOCHROME WINNER: COMMON WOMBAT by Charles Davis

"It was a real surprise, especially as I'd been almost a month photographing southern right whales with a team from the University of Auckland," he said.

PORTFOLIO WINNER: ROOSTING BEE by Ethan Mann

The competition was a real positive for Robinson, who was a finalist in five of the nine categories and is hoping to raise his profile in Australia.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR WINNER: COWNOSE RAYS by Alex Kydd

"Underwater photography is a bit limited [commercially] in New Zealand," he said, "so I hope it can lead me to new things."

An exhibition of winners and runners up is on display at the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, until 15 November 2020.