Colour and life to capture at the lake

WHAT do you love about Lake Wendouree? Maybe it’s the twilight colours, the wildlife on the water and the foreshore, or the clouds overhead.

An inaugural photo competition led by members of the local Get our Lake Wendouree lighting right! advocacy group is encouraging people to snap their pics of the area.

Ballarat photographer Peter Kervarec is one of the competition’s main organisers and said there’s so much about the lake’s uninterrupted skyline to enjoy and capture as it’s an open environmental theatre in the middle of suburbia.

“You get to see all the twilights, all of the sunrise, and you get to see the sun set,” he said. “There’s an analogy for this.

“When you open a shop in the morning, you open the door and turn the lights on, and when you leave, you turn the lights off and shut the door, but nature’s not like that.

“The lake is very slow shutting down. The birds start to get a bit active, they start trying to roost. There’s about 101 signs that tell you nightfall is coming; nature does that beautifully.

“At sunrise, nature does that perfectly as well, with birds chirping in the distance, colour comes into the sky, and the next thing, it’s daylight.”

Mr Kervarec said the installation of 225 light poles around the lake’s Steve Moneghetti track in mid-February.

“The competition is a great opportunity to record the lake, the twilight, the foreshore and all the beautiful parts that people like before the lights go in,” he said.

“I’ve been photographing the lake for 35 years, and it’s an evolution, but we don’t want it to become too much.”

Entries should be uploaded to the Get our Lake Wendouree lighting right! Facebook page as soon as possible.

There will be junior, encouragement, open and overall awards with a total prize pool of about $1300.