Welcome to our annual Photo of the Year!
As creatives, we are always learning, challenging ourselves and getting creative with our tools. Every year we look critically at our work to see if there are areas we can improve on, and to identify what we consider our BEST work to see if we might be able to enter it in any of our industry photography competitions and also to refresh our visual presence online and in print with our most favourite photos!
Part of this process is SHARING and getting feedback from YOU – our audience – about what YOU love!
We have compiled our top 101 favourite photos from last year and we want you to vote for the one you like the most!
How we chose the photos
We took approximately 250,000 frames in 2025 over 300+ photography sessions. (That’s not counting our personal ones of our own family!) So narrowing it down to this selection was not an easy thing to do!
We used a few simple principles to choose – the same principles we use as judges in professional photography awards and competitions:
- Impact – emotional and visual
- Storytelling/narrative strength
- Technical attributes (use of light, colour, composition)
- X factor
We tried to remain objective, because sometimes the way you might feel about your own photos is influenced by how much fun you had taking them! So our final selection has nothing to do with how well we connected with our clients, what they thought and purchased, or what our most memorable sessions of the year were.
The prizes
GET VOTING
- Review our top photos of 2025 below
- Make a note of the number you want to vote for (it appears when you hover over the image & in the name below the photo when you scroll through)
- Scroll down and complete the voting form below to place your vote
PLACE YOUR VOTE BELOW!
Voting Terms & Conditions
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Only one entry per family/IP address will be accepted.
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Entrants must be over the age of 18.
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Voting closes at midnight, Wednesday February 11th, 2026.
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The top five images with the most votes will be announced on social media on Thursday February 12th, 2026, and the families in those photos will be contacted personally.
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One lucky voter will be randomly selected to win a Heartstory Family Portrait Experience worth $1700 and a further twenty five (25) voters will be randomly selected to receive a $400 Heartstory Portrait Experience. These winners will be notified by phone or SMS by Friday February 13th.
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The $1700 prize is for an outdoors or studio Heartstory Family Photography Experience (worth $200), and $1500 credit towards photographic artwork. Studio sessions available in Canberra only. Outdoors sessions available in Canberra or Blue Mountains.
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The $400 prize is for an outdoors or studio Heartstory Family Photography Experience (worth $200), and $200 credit towards photographic artwork. Studio sessions available in Canberra only. Outdoors sessions available in Canberra or Blue Mountains.
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All prizes must be used by end of June 2026 with no extensions possible unless there are extenuating circumstances.
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Prizes may not be substituted for any other product or service (such as a wedding photography package) or used in conjunction with any other promotion, gift certificate or discount, and are not redeemable for cash. They also cannot be used towards a special project like Babies in Bonnets or others that we may run this year.
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By entering this competition, you agree to be added to our mailing list to be kept in the loop with cool stuff like this. We promise not to spam you, and of course, you can unsubscribe any time.
