I've had some fantastic news! One of my images has been selected to go on the front cover of the City of Geelong 2020 Calendar! This is a free calendar produced by the city and goes to over 100,000 homes and businesses! Check out the announcement here!
A competition is held each year where entrants can submit images taken from within the City to a selection panel. Each month is narrowed down to 2 options, and a public vote selects the winning image. The front cover image is selected by the Geelong Gallery Director, Jason Smith. Over 1,100 entries were received, and I am over the moon that my shot was selected.
As the photographer with the winning entry, I also had some images taken with the Mayor and Gallery Director at the You Yangs to be used in local newspapers and and announced in the council's social media channels.
Mayor Stephanie Asher:
"The Geelong calendar is an annual favourite in local households and I’m sure there’ll be many people keen to grab it straight from their letterbox and hang it in their kitchen or office. I’ve kept all of our family’s calendars as a record of each year’s events.
The 2020 edition captures the many different parts of our region beautifully, and the four different categories this year mean there is great variety among the 12 photos featured.
Thank-you to everyone who submitted a photo for the competition, and congratulations to the 12 photographers whose images won the public vote and now find themselves immortalised on the pages of this calendar. "
Geelong Gallery Director Jason Smith:
"Congratulations to the artists for their exceptional technical and conceptual brilliance. It was easy to see that each photographer’s passion for and vision of their subject profoundly influenced their final formal compositions and feeling for light and colour. I find it uplifting that our local natural and built environments inspire such sophisticated creativity and aesthetic refinement.
As always, it is terribly uneasy to select just one winner, but Luke David’s image of the You Yangs, a landscape I love, captivated me."
My family originally comes from Geelong, and growing up, I spent each holiday visiting my Grandparents and cousins in Geelong, or staying at the holiday house my Grandfather built in Ocean Grove. I still visit from time to time to see my brother and his family, and my Uncles and Aunts who still live in the area. As a photographer I have really enjoyed revisiting and rediscovering some of the natural beauty in the region.
My winning image was taken after a family visit. I stopped in at the You Yangs and climbed to the top of Flinders Peak in the hopes of a beautiful sunset. I wasn't disappointed! If you look closely you can see a couple sitting on the rocks looking out over the plains as the setting sun spills over them.
I took this shot with an Olympus Pen F camera.
The image is available in my gallery at this link: http://lukedavidphotos.com/photo/FFJLZGYB45-ZPF-C5UR8J