The photos that received the most votes in Shire Tourism’s “Show the Shire‟ online photo competition have been announced with three ladies taking out the top spots.
Just a few votes separated first and second place; local woman Sarah Robson’s photo of Flat Rock Creek in the Royal National Park won with 1225 votes. Second place went to Sharon Campbell for her photo of Shelly Beach Park, Cronulla which received 1213 votes. Third place was won by Danielle Sheehan for her image, Reflect, in Taren Point which received 779 votes.
“Not only did the “Show the Shire‟ online photo competition showcase some of the stunning places in the Shire, some of which were relatively unknown until now, it also uncovered a wealth talented local photographers,” said Sutherland Shire Mayor, Kent Johns.
“In fact, we were so impressed with the calibre of photos submitted in the competition we have decided to put out an expression of interest for photographers who would like to be included on a preferred supplier list for council photography in future. What a better way to “Show the Shire‟ than through the eyes of our local photographers?” he said.
The “Show the Shire” competition also achieved another important aim – showing the Shire off to the rest of the world. Web statistics show that the Show the Shire page was shared just under 15,000 times and there were more than 6800 votes entered.
“This competition was not about deciding which photo was technically the best, it was about showing visually through photos what a fantastic place this is and how many amazing and beautiful areas there are in the Shire,” said Mayor Johns.
“This was the first competition of this kind that council has run and we‟ve received a lot of very useful feedback which will help us planning future competitions like this,” he said.
The winning photos and all photos entered can be viewed on the Visit the Shire Facebook site. The winning photographer received a $500 EFTPOS gift card, second prize a $250 EFTPOS gift card and third prize a $150 EFTPOS gift card.
For more information contact the Tourism team at Sutherland Shire Council on 9710 0155 or email tourism@ssc.nsw.gov.au.
