Scott Leggo, OLD WARRIOR (PLACES WILDERNESS 2025)

This snow gum sits as one of the oldest surviving snow gums in Australia. With so few of these ancient remnant snow gums left as result of increased fires and the die back caused by the native longicorn beetle, intact old‑growth stands are now exceptionally scarce. Outside these few remaining stands, finding examples like this is becoming increasingly challenging, but I'm determined to keep exploring and photograph them while I can. On this snowy winters day I explored an area I know contains some of these ancient specimens and was rewarded with this still standing and impressive beauty.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.