At risk of sounding like a complete tosser, at a gala event at the Crown Casino Palladium last night I won the title of AIPP Australian Science, Wildlife and Wild Places Photographer of the Year for 2015.
Of my four images entered, two images received Gold awards (90+) and two received silver awards with distinction (85 & 86) at the AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year Awards (APPA) on the weekend. I was both gobsmakked and thrilled with the announcement.
This event is only for professional photographers and the entries in this category included a diverse mix of subjects including wild Polar Bears, Whales, Cheetahs, Microbiology, Glaciers and Astrophotography, but this is the first time the Australian title was won by an astrophotographer
To make the weekend complete, I also picked up enough points to earn my Grand Masters.
(Yes, just like the Flintstones, the AIPP has Grand Masters, and there are only 20 in the whole country of a membership of over 3000)
For those interested, the high res files can be found here
http://www.astrobin.com/users/Andys_Astropix/
Thanks everyone for all your help and advice, couldn't have done it without you!
Andy