This image of nine waxeyes feasting at a bird feeder has netted a Christchurch photographer a Fairfax photography award.
Andrew Lukey snapped the image on July 31 at his parents' Halswell farm.
"It was early and my mother had put some butter on the bird feeder and the waxeyes were going crazy for it. The light had just broken above the nearby hills and I thought the scene was worth photographing," he said.
He entered the photo in a Dominion Post competition that attracted more than a 1000 entries.
"It was a spur of the moment thing. I remembered about the competition afterwards."
Lukey, who is a freelance photographer, said the win was "a bit of recognition" for his work.
He took up to 100 shots of the birds to get the standout image.
His winning entry will be shown in The Wide Angle: Best of the Dominion Post exhibition, alongside the World Press Photo exhibition in Wellington, and he also wins a Canon PowerShot SX230 HS compact digital camera worth $650.
Christchurch photographer Andrew Lukey snapped nine waxeyes in a feeding frenzy - and took out a Fairfax award for his patience