Capturing our love of the sea
Nelsonians’ love of the sea and the enjoyment it can bring shone through in this year’s Cawthron Seaweek photography competition entries.
Cawthron’s community educator Cristina Armstrong said: ‘‘The marine environment is so important to the top of the south. The variety of photos reflects how much we value our local coastline.
‘‘Every year people rise to the challenge and the photos seem to get better each year.’’
Nelson Mail chief photographer Martin de Ruyter, who judged the 73 photos entered in four categories, was impressed with their quality.
Beneath the Sea was the theme of the competition and the winner of that category was Lily Power’s photo of a snorkeller.
‘‘The photo has a sense of fun about it, with the hair going everywhere, the nail polish and the reflection on the under side of the water,’’ said de Ruyter. ‘‘It’s just a cool young person snorkelling under the surface.
‘‘With the cheapness of underwater cameras you can take these photos now; before, you needed equipment that cost thousands of dollars.’’
Amy Dallow won the under-13s category with a fishing photo. De Ruyter liked the scale of the photo, and that it was of a father teaching a child to fish. Another of her photos, of a child with a caught fish, also came second in the category.
A playful photo of three dogs on the beach won the Pets section. ‘‘It just says fun,’’ said de Ruyter.
The winner of the Local Treasures category is Alaric McCarthy’s photo of Fifeshire Rock.
‘‘There were quite a lot of photos of Fifeshire Rock but this one stood out because of the light coming through and its simplicity,’’ he said.
Prizes include a cruise with Whale Watch Kaikoura, a term of Swim Magic swimming lessons, stand up paddle board tours and books from Craig Potton Publishing.