Emily Wells snapped the macro shot of woolly fringe-moss at the suggestion of a guide, during a walk in December last year on the Hollyford Track, a Great walk in Fiordland National Park.
Surprised by its striking beauty — and resemblance to a Fiordland forest in miniature — she submitted it to the Tūhura Otago Museum Aotearoa Amateur Wildlife Photography Competition.
Her surprise was only magnified when she heard she had received a runner-up prize in the competition, selected from a record 9372 submissions this year.
"I’m very much an amateur, so it’s amazing to be chosen like this," the aquaculture technician said.
"It was a fleeting picture — no planning in it. The guide just casually said, ‘You should take a pic of that. It’ll make a nice cellphone wallpaper’. So I did."
She said she only appreciated the qualities of the picture when she browsed through the trip album later.
"I used it as a wallpaper for a while, and just thought it was a bit special, so we submitted it to the competition."
The colourful image was runner-up in the competition’s botanical (adult) category.
Although resident in Balclutha at the time, she had recently moved to Dunedin, and worked shifts at a salmon farm in Stewart Island.
"I travel quite a lot and I’m often outdoors in nature, so I’m inspired to get a proper camera now and maybe try experimenting a bit."
A spokesman for the competition said Miss Wells’ submission was illustrative of a very high calibre of entries this year.
"This has been a record-breaking year that has cemented the competition’s place as one of New Zealand’s leading amateur wildlife photography events.
"The 2026 competition attracted 9372 submissions, the highest in its 26-year history. A newly expanded nationwide wild Aotearoa category alone generated 5717 entries, reflecting strong engagement from photographers across New Zealand."
He said the exhibition of finalists and winning images was now open, and free to visit.
Nahuel Kondratzky, of Dunedin, was named overall winner for a macro image of a weevil.
Dawn Kirk, of Christchurch, was awarded runner-up and won the Wild New Zealand category for her image of a dotterel chick, a threatened species which has only about 2500 individuals remaining.
