Hawke’s Bay Today Harvey Norman Canon NZ photo competition winner announced

When she is not working on her Otane sheep and beef farm, Annabelle Campbell goes out to take photographs on her iPhone.

For the last few years, her three daughters have been the focus of her picture-taking.

Summer holidays have traditionally been staying at Hawke’s Bay’s Pourerere, a two-week stay in the family bach. Despite the forecast, this year was no different.

After Cyclone Hale swept through, Campbell took her three girls for an afternoon walk along Pourerere Beach to tire them out.

The rolling sea mist had closed in and the visibility was limited, making it hard to determine where the sky ended and the sea began.

Campbell pulled out her phone and took photographs of the kids splashing around as her eldest daughter Chloe wandered ahead.

“It just looked so cool”, Campbell said of her daughter Chloe and her reflection in the warm afternoon light.

It’s a photo which has won her this year’s Hawke’s Bay Today Harvey Norman Hastings Canon NZ summer photo competition.

Annabelle Campbell's photo of Pourerere in the mist. Photo / Annabelle Campbell

Campbell said she had never seen Pourerere Beach looking so calm and serene in her more than 30 years of visiting.

Knowing there was a good picture in front of her she turned her iPhone upside down, and held it as low as she could to maximise the reflection of her daughter.

“I’m pretty stoked how it came out actually.”

Campbell says she always has subject material to take photographs of.

The kids, flowers, landscapes and farm life fill up the phone’s memory.

“I can’t paint or draw for the life of me but I’ve always enjoyed being creative with the camera.”

Campbell’s other love is hockey.

After retiring from playing due to knee problems, she took up coaching.

She visits local schools promoting the game with the goal of building playing numbers.

Winner Annabelle Campbell with daughter Darcie, 4, and Harvey Norman Hastings Operations Manager Computers and Communications Nick Perreaux displaying her winning photo. Photo / Warren Buckland

And what will be the first photographs Annabelle takes with her new camera, a Canon Eos R10 camera with 18-45mm kit lens?

“I’m really looking forward to using the new camera to photograph the kids and promote my hockey coaching.”

THE WINNERS

Annabelle Campbell has won the Hawke’s Bay Today Harvey Norman Hastings and Canon NZ Hawke’s Bay annual summer photo competition.

She takes home a Canon Eos R10 camera with 18-45mm kit lens, Canon camera bag and a voucher for 100 6x4 prints of her favourite images.

The second prize winner was Rebecca Cook who took a charming photograph of Oscar enjoying a drink from the garden hose.

Oscar enjoying the hose water. Photo / Rebecca Cook

Who hasn’t snuck a quick slurp from a garden hose?

That summed up the one or two days of summer we had in January.

Cook will be picking up a $100 Harvey Norman gift card and 100 6x4 photo prints.

Third prize went to Michelle Nicholson for her action photo of her 8-year-old daughter Shelby Nitschke enjoying driving through deep puddles beside the Ngaruroro River.

The water captured in mid air adds to the composition and that happening feeling.

Michelle Nicholson's shot of Shelby took out third place.

She will pick up a $50 Harvey Norman gift card and 100 6x4 photo prints.

WHY THE POURERERE MIST WON

The quality of photographs entered for our summer photo competition was generally of a very high standard.

But one photograph stood out above the crowd, Hawke’s Bay Today chief photographer and competition judge Warren Buckland.

A stunning moody misty sea scene with a small figure walking away in the distance.

Was it sea or was it sky? It could have been a painting.

“If the viewer has to ask questions that means the photographer has captured their attention,” Buckland says.

“Making the usual look interesting, intriguing is the job of a photographer.

“In this case, the weather was the star with a supporting role played by the figure walking in the distance.”

To look at a scene and see the picture in it is a skill in itself, Buckland said.

“She has taken this skill and captured a beautiful thought-provoking image worthy of being displayed in a special place.”