Photo competition: The winner is...

Tania Harman gets a soaking. Picture / Timoti Pekamu

It's the perfect image for summer: a child, water and fun. That's why this image of little Tania Harman getting a soaking is the winner of the New Zealand Herald's summer holiday picture competition.

The competition - held in association with Canon - attracted a record 7000 entries as amateur photographers sent in their favourite summer photos.

The high quality of entries made choosing the winner a tough decision.

Deputy picture editor Rachel Ward said the volume of entries was overwhelming - hundreds were emailed every day - and the standard was "extremely high".

The shot of Tania, from Taihape, getting soaked was chosen because it showed "a wonderful, spontaneous moment" captured with near-perfect timing.

"The expression on Tania's face sums up the classic New Zealand summer image of kids having fun in the sun."

The photographer, Timoti Pekamu, wins a Canon EOS 350D camera with an 18-55mm lens, 8-megapixel CMOS sensor and DIGIC II image processor; a package valued at $1799.

* A selection of readers' photos ran in the print edition of the Herald throughout the summer holidays.