Malin Award Winners 2023.

[Peter Ward]

Australia's most prestigious Astrophotography contest results are now
available here.

https://davidmalinawards.com/2023-winning-images

This year's standard was simply stratospheric.

Congratulations to the winners. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

P.S. Next year's open theme will be

"Working with light in the night"

The challenge of the open category in 2024 is to showcase the night sky (or an astronomical object) against incidental artificial sources of light.
For example, the Milky Way above a sea of urban lighting. Images taken with the same camera and lens/telescope combination can be digitally
combined provided they are taken at a similar time and at the same location. The scene's natural illumination should be preserved.
The goal is to show the night sky even if affected by lights. Obvious composites of star-fields pasted upon urban environments will be disqualified.

P.P.S. Slight edit made, this is now the official wording of the open category

[glenc]

Thanks Peter.
Congratulations to all the winners.

[leon]

Thanks peter they are all fantastic images, but I have to say the overall winner is just awesome, :eyepop: well done to all.:thumbsup:

Leon :thumbsup:

[Nikolas]

That overall image was impressive Congrats to the winner!!!!!

[Peter Ward]

My pleasure. It's clear why it's the "A list" comp in Oz IMHO

[BlakPhoenix]

Congrats to all the winners! I think my person favourite is that of C/2022 E3 & Mars. Wow! What a lovely image of the two tails, Mars & nearby dust. Feels so natural.


Very surprised there were no prized eclipse images (or even honourable mentions / highly commended) given it's the first totality over AU since 2002.

[keller60]

Wow! :eyepop: A definite highlight of the astro-imaging calendar.


Congratulations to the winners, and to CWAS for their second decade
hosting this event.

[Peter Ward]

The standard of entries in the Malins was such that eclipse submissions unfortunately didn’t make the cut this year.

[RB]

Absolutely stunning.
Congratulations to the winners.



Yes, I agree Peter.

RB
:)

[Peter Ward]

Just a heads up to a minor change to next year's Malin's open theme, which
I've now amended in my original post.

[Peter Ward]

I thought it might be prudent in view of recent discussions, to give a brief outline to the "Malin's"judging. Images are de-identified, but due the social media/web promotion by some entrants some images might still be recognised. Best advice here is don't publish image entries if you want to your work to remain incognito.

In any event images are *always* judged on their merits.

Because of the rules (i.e. no cut and paste composites with disparate lighting) images are examined with some scrutiny to ensure the light is being respected. Some entries have even undergone astrometric checks to ensure their veracity....it's astrophotography as opposed to photoshop competition after all :)

Many image technical flaws and "fakes" are also revealed as a result. The latter is fatal, but if the aesthetic of an image is remarkably powerful, then small technical flaws can be overlooked.

This judging process takes time and simply can't be done on the fly IMHO.

It should also be stated that popular targets are invariably intrinsically beautiful (often bright) objects. While they can be "done to death", truly excellent renditions are actually not that common and require exceptional conditions, equipment or technique to produce a standout image. These indeed can be deserving of kudos.....if you have absolutely "nailed it" or created a new twist on an old favourite then don't be afraid to enter it.

Lastly, having an "on trend" photoshop NB palette or filter won't lead to a standout image. It will be lost in the pack with who haven't realised the game has already moved on. However a sublimely accurate colour image that reveals a hidden or subtle astrophysical process and can often surprise and delight even the most jaded judge. ;)

[alan meehan]

Wow all are winners

[AstroViking]

Kudos to the winners of both the APP and Malin awards, and to all the entrants.

I looked at the APP awards live-stream and the short-listed entries, then looked at the Malin short-list in Peter's link.

I feel that a lot of the APP images were over-processed and over-saturated in their colours. There were very few that grabbed my attention and caused me to stop and look closer at the image. They are all fine images, just not to my tastes.

The Malin images, on the other hand, were far more realistic and for lack of a better word, restrained in their colours and saturation. I'd happily spend time poring over each image and enjoying / savouring the details and colours that the photographers have captured.

V.