AN EAST Hampshire man is getting plenty of exposure after taking first prize in a photographic competition.
Ron De’Ath clearly has an eye for a good picture as the snapper from Rowlands Castle has won this year’s South Downs National Park photo competition with this stunning effort (pictured above).
Judges felt his ‘Harvest Home’ picture taken from Butser Hill clearly told the story of farmers as “stewards caring for the national park”.
“I’ve been taking photos for more than 40 years and Butser is one of my favourite hunting grounds,” said the Mr De’Ath.
“I try to convey to the viewer my feelings at the time of clicking the shutter which in this case was the sheer privilege of being in a place of such beauty which feeds the soul as well as the body.”
This year’s competition had a ‘Growing Places’ theme with £250, £150 and £50 prizes for the first, second and third-placed entrants.
Steve Watkins, competition judge and editor of Outdoor Photography magazine, was full of praise for Ron and his “technically perfect” picture. He said: “Ron has subverted what could easily have been a conventional harvest shot – making the unusual choice to frame the picture vertically and leave out the sky entirely.
“The result is a wonderful winding journey through chalk grassland, ploughed earth and woodland, past a farmhouse and field margins and on to freshly harvested crops, leaving no doubt that people live and work in this landscape.”
Dominic Vacher took second with his ‘Staredown’ picture of moody cattle near Brighton, while Simon Verrall’s picture of West Sussex downland was third.
Other judges included Finn Hopson, a photographer and gallery owner; Rachael Talibart, winner of the Sunday Times Magazine’s Landscape Photographer of the Year in 2016; Nick Heasman, countryside and policy manager for the South Downs National Park Authority; and national park authority member Doug Jones.
The South Downs National Park Authority has now asked the public to pick their favourite image at www.southdowns.gov.uk/vote-favourite-photo