Wednesday, 9 May 2018

Announcing the autumn photo winner

    1. Opinion
    2. Opinion
    The winner: Chris Aspinall's fish-eye lens image of the Lake Wanaka tree on Anzac Day.
    The winner: Chris Aspinall's fish-eye lens image of the Lake Wanaka tree on Anzac Day.
    Runner-up: Lucinda Garside's photo of a happy Millie (6) and Lewis (3) running through the leaves at Clyde.
    Runner-up: Lucinda Garside's photo of a happy Millie (6) and Lewis (3) running through the leaves at Clyde.
    Runner-up: Don Buick's goldfinch-in-action, shot by the Clutha River at Albert Town.
    Runner-up: Don Buick's goldfinch-in-action, shot by the Clutha River at Albert Town.
    Runner-up: Gavin Dann's autumnal view when he does the dishes in his Alexandra home.
    Runner-up: Gavin Dann's autumnal view when he does the dishes in his Alexandra home.
    Runner-up: Heather Macleod's wonderful reflective image of Thurlby Domain in Queenstown in a schist building's window.
    Runner-up: Heather Macleod's wonderful reflective image of Thurlby Domain in Queenstown in a schist building's window.

    It's the day we've all been waiting for - the climax of the great What's With That autumn photo challenge!

    After close perusal of more than 200 autumn-tinged photographs sent in over just four or five days, we've selected a winner and four runners-up. There were plenty of others which were almost as striking and also knocking on the door of receiving a prize.

    ODT illustrations editor Stephen Jacquiery and I have settled on these four photographs for runner-up awards of an A4 print each: Don Buick's quick-witted image of a goldfinch on the wing by the Clutha River at Albert Town (published on May 4); Lucinda Garside's happy shot of Millie (6) and Lewis (3) Garside playing in autumn leaves at Clyde (published on May 4); Gavin Dann's evocative photo of autumn from his kitchen sink in Alexandra (printed on April 30); and Heather Macleod's quintessentially Central Otago autumn shot of turning trees reflected in an old schist building's windows in Queenstown's Thurlby Domain (printed on April 30).

    Well done!

    And now the winner? The photographer I'm about to reveal emailed several stunning pictures, two of which, including a photo looking up at a deep blue sky through a circle of orange-leaved poplar trees, were in the mix for the top slot. But Chris Aspinall's fish-eye image of the much-photographed tree in Lake Wanaka, with the sun peeking out above the poplars (published on Monday this week), was the picture we chose as our winner.

    Congratulations to you, Chris. You've won an A2 landscape canvas of that photo.

    I'm running the five prize-winning photographs again today.

    Thanks to everyone for sending in their entries. Looking through them all this week really reinforced for me how lucky we are to live in this part of New Zealand. The climatic extremes of Central Otago ensure our autumns are full of vivid colour, add spectacular contrast to the landscape and linger in the memory, long after the last leaf has floated to the ground.

    Flying ducks

    I know it's sad the autumn competition is now over. But wipe away those tears - I'm still on the lookout for images of your inside ducks, be they plaster, wood or gold.

    I don't have room to run any today but rest assured they'll be in the column over the next few days.

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