Competition puts Wainwright’s Lake District in the picture
Amateur and professional photographers are being encouraged to put Alfred Wainwright’s Lake District in the picture for a new competition.
The Cumberland Ale Keswick Mountain Festival is launching the photographic competition to find the image that best represents the popular author’s love of the Lakeland fells.
Interest in Alfred Wainwright’s Lake District walking guides has been growing as a result of Julia Bradbury’s Wainwright Walks series on the BBC. The second series is currently running on BBC2.
The photo competition will be judged by world famous mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington, who has made his home in the Lake District, and mountain photographer Tony Riley.
Tony Riley says: “We’re looking for photos with a strong Wainwright theme. So it could be something based on a location or maybe a description used in one of his books.
“This could be combined with aspects of mountain adventure, such as climbing, walking and biking, as well as mountain landscapes. You could for instance find the same viewpoint he used for one of his drawings.”
The prizes for the winner will include two invitations to a VIP buffet reception on Friday 16th May at the The Theatre by the Lake during the Cumberland Ale Keswick Mountain Festival. The reception will be attended by Julia Bradbury, Sir Chris Bonington and Alan Hinkes.
The winner will also receive 2 tickets for the talk by Julia Bradbury that follows the reception and one night’s accommodation in Keswick. In addition they will be presented with a framed print of their winning image.
One runner up will receive a personally signed copy of a book by Sir Chris Bonington and a Jennings Hamper including 10 bottles of beer, 2 chutneys, a pint glass, a sweatshirt and a cap.
Both pictures will also be displayed at Keswick’s Sharp Edge Gallery, as well as being shown on the Festival website - www.keswickmountainfestival.co.uk
Sir Chris says: “I’ll be looking for a photo that can inspire people about the Lake District in the same way that Alfred Wainwright does in his books. What I love about the Lake District is that it's got a great variety of landscape in a very compact area. So there’s certainly no shortage of subject matter for enthusiastic photographers.”
The closing date is Monday 5th May 2008 and entries should either be emailed to cheryl@keswickmountainfestival.co.uk or posted to:
The Cumberland Ale Keswick Mountain Festival Photo Competition
c/o Keswick Tourism Association
50 Main Street
Keswick
Cumbria
CA12 5JS
Sir Chris Bonington and Tony Riley will also be running an interactive session at the Keswick Mountain Festival discussing questions about mountain photography, based around their exhibition of fine art prints from around the world. The session will be held at The Theatre by the Lake at 11.15 on Friday 16th May and tickets can be obtained by phoning 017687-74411.
Other activities that people will be able to watch or take part in during the Cumberland Ale Keswick Mountain Festival include talks by other leading mountaineers, guided walks, canoeing, climbing and navigation courses.
• Photos should have a ‘Wainwright’ theme, by referring to a location or description in one of his books. This can be combined with aspects of mountain adventure, such as climbing, walking and biking, as well as mountain landscapes. You could for instance find the same viewpoint he used for one of his drawings. ‘Action’ shots are however equally valid.
• Entries for judging must be received no later than Monday 5th May 2008.
• Finalists will be phoned to request original slides, negatives or digital files on CD, on Wed 7th May for fine art scanning and printing of the winning entry up to A2 (16” x 24”), and these must be received by Sat 10th May. If a finalist prefers not to provide these, we will use the submitted print or work to the largest size possible from the digital file supplied.
• FORMATS ACCEPTED: You can either send prints of approx. 10”x 8” to A4 (12”x 8”) by post, or jpeg images (maximum emailed file size 1Mb, or as large a file size as possible in jpg, tif or raw by post on CD-ROM).
• Entries must include the photographer’s Name and Phone Number, a Caption or Title, and a description of the picture content, detailing how it relates to Wainright with any other information you wish to give. Postal entries should include these details on the back of the photo. Email entries should include the details in the email.
• Entries will be judged on a points system divided as follows –
Originality (25%): Using photography in a personal rather than conventional way.
Content (50%): The subject you have picked, and how good it looks.
Quality and Technique (25%): Photographic skills such as exposure and sharpness.
• The judge’s decision is final.
• You may enter up to three images.
• Unfortunately it will not be possible to return any of the entries other than any original slides and negatives provided by the finalists for printing the winning entry.
• Entry in the contest constitutes agreement to allow photographs to be reproduced, published and/or exhibited for promotional purposes. Copyright remains with the photographer.
