The Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) are once again holding a competition this summer to find an image for the cover of their 2018 Visitor Guide.
Photos submitted can be of virtually anything, but to be eligible, the photo must have been taken within the Northumberland Coast AONB in 2017. The closing date for entries is Friday 6th October 2017.
The winner will not only see their image on the front cover of 50,000 copies of the guide, but also receive a voucher for £150 to spend at Stait Photo of Morpeth and Hexham, who are once again sponsoring the competition. The runners-up will receive a canvas print of their image. Ken Stait will be acting as one of the judges.
Paul Larkin, editor of the Johnston Press Northumberland titles, Northumberland Gazette, Berwick Advertiser, Morpeth Herald and News Post Leader, which are all backing the competition, and helping with the judging, said: “Stunning images of the Northumberland coastline taken and submitted to us by our readers continue to generate enormous interest on social media. On the back of that, we have launched the Northumberland Camera Club and we are sure its members will be keen to take part in this competition. We encourage all photographers to get out, explore the coast and keep an eye open for that perfect picture. We are proud to continue our association with this competition and are looking forward to seeing this year’s entries”.
Jane Coltman, Image Manager for Johnston Press Northumberland titles is also a judge. She said: "It is always a delight to be involved in the process of selecting the cover picture for the Visitor Guide. I love seeing the many and varied ways people express their passion of the Northumberland coast through their photography”.
Last year's winner was Chris Orange from Surrey. His image - puffin with its eye closed - is on the front cover of this years Visitor Guide. Chris said “This photo was taken whilst on Staple Island, during the summer of 2016. After several hours in different locations watching the puffins as they continually flew on and off the Island to catch fish, I began to get into the rhythm of photographing their activity, which was a pleasure to witness. As I photographed this particular puffin I took a couple of frames, and noticed that on the second shot his eyes had closed in the same split second that I closed the shutter on my camera. I did wonder if he was winking at me! A really wonderful moment to capture”.
Images need to be submitted in an electronic format and be of a high enough resolution to be used on the cover of the guide. More advice, previous visitor guide covers and the full set of rules are the latest blog on the AONB website.