Spring photo competition winners announced

Published on 07 October 2022

The judges’ decisions are in for the inaugural Colac Otway Springtime photo competition, which had 133 entries of the cutest baby animals and prettiest spring blooms from around the shire.

“It was a close call in many categories with such a high standard of photography and we’re thrilled that so many people took the time to send in their fantastic photos,” said Mayor Hanson, who judged the competition with Colac Herald photographer Joel King.

Winners:

Spring newborns: Nat Morris with her image of two spring lambs

Spring blossom: Jane Field with her image of spring wattle

Spring in your step: Chrissy LoRicco with her husband Travis’ photo of a spring kayak on Lake Colac

Spring-sation: Cameron Mann with his photograph of a spring swooping magpie and a whistling kite

Winners will receive a blown-up printed copy of their winning entries courtesy of the Colac Herald.

Chrissy LoRicco’s photo featured her then 16-week old puppy Steel, who has his own Instagram account @steel.vizsla and was a new addition to the family in an attempt to get everyone out of home and into nature.

“The photo contest has been a great way for us to head out as a family and our daughter, who is 12, is a budding photographer so it was a lot of fun over the school holidays,” said Chrissy, whose photo was taken kayaking on Lake Colac over the football grand final long weekend.

Cameron Mann (15) was on a road-trip to the region with his mum from West Gippsland. They were heading to their cousin’s pig farm in Corunnan to take photos.

“We spotted a whistling kite being swooped by a magpie and pulled over,” said Cameron, who loves all animals and works at his local pet store after school. “I tagged Colac Otway Shire into the photo and noticed the photo competition and thought it would be fun to enter.”

Jane Field took her photo of wattle at the bottom of her driveway in Barongarook. An aspiring photographer and a full-time carer with Mercy Health, she said: “Spring is such a beautiful time of year and as soon as I saw the competition advertised, I knew I wanted to be a part of it.”

Nat Morris’ spring lambs photograph was a popular choice with judges, who loved the emotion it conveyed with the lambs seeming to be running off into some spring adventures.

However, there were a high number of outstanding photos submitted in this category and special mention has been made for Tori Towers’ photo of a very new spring calf and its watchful mother.

“Thank you to everyone who entered our first photo competition, it was a joy to see our shire portrayed in its loveliest spring light,” said Mayor Hanson.

Keep your eyes on the Colac Herald over the next few weeks to see some of the outstanding photos entered into the competition.