Photo group celebrates annual comp

LAL Lal Moorabool Photographic Group is currently marking a dual celebration of the tenth anniversary of their annual competition and a decade of activity for the organisation.

The group’s founder and secretary Kristina Kitchingman said the establishment of both the group and competitions are intertwined.

“I had a go at the Skipton photo comp some years ago and thought we could do something like it here in Lal Lal,” she said.

“We put on an exhibition in 2011 and decided we should get a group around it which is how this all sort of kicked off.

“Most of the comps around here generally have higher-level photographers enhancing their pictures, so we decided we’d like to start with people at the beginning.

“It’s straight out of the camera. There’s no photoshop allowed, no enhancing. It’s more for our members to know where they started and see how they’ve increased their skills.”

Since forming, the group has a consistent membership of about 20 people, and their competition generally sees entries of over 400 photos.

Top places range from youth, novice and grand open across eight categories which are overseen by an a judge with prizes going towards each category’s top three entrants.

The eight first-place winners will then go in the draw for a final prize to be allocated by Moorabool Shire mayor Cr Tom Sullivan.

Entries will be displayed in an online exhibition with public voting available, with aim of holding an in-person exhibition at Lal Lal Primary School later in the year.

With the introduction of voucher prizes and the upcoming debut of the Sarah Peckham Award, Kitchingman said the comp’s decade-long run is “a bit of a wow.”

“When it started, I didn’t have any thoughts as to where it would go. I just wanted to get people involved with the community and photography,” she said.

“It’s exciting that people are still interested in this because this is more than a passion for me. It’s an obsession.”

The top prizes will comprise vouchers from both Camera House and David Bailey Photography and Training.

Entries are open until Thursday, 30 June, and will cost an admin fee of $5 alongside $5 for each photo submitted.

To enter, visit lallalphotogroup.org/competitions/annual.