Eastern Beach pic picked for calendar cover

NEXT year’s calendar from the City of Greater Geelong should be hitting letter boxes this week.

The 2019 calendars, which are free for Geelong residents, will be delivered to more than 100,000 homes in the region from Tuesday, December 11.

Residents can also pick up a calendar (to give to out-of-town family and friends, for example) at any City of Greater Geelong customer service centre.

The cover image features Eastern Beach at sunset by Ash Hughes, a local photographer who also won the community vote for February’s image.

The winning cover image for this year’s calendar was selected by Geelong Gallery director Jason Smith, who was very impressed with the calibre of images submitted this year.

“Congratulations to all the exceptional photographers whose time and effort made for an excellent survey. It didn’t surprise me that the quality of entries was uniformly outstanding,” Mr Smith said.

“It was a tough decision, but in the end I was confident in my selection of Ash Hughes’ image of Eastern Beach. He used the sunrise to capture this iconic Geelong location in a quiet moment of morning light that I find mesmerising.”

The Geelong calendar competition invites local photographers to submit their images of Geelong.

This year’s competition received more than 700 entries and a public vote was held to determine the ultimate 12 images to be included.

The 2019 Geelong calendar features coastal horizons, rural landscapes, moody skylines and even beach art.

“The Geelong calendar has hung in homes around our region for years, and each new edition is something we all look forward to,” Geelong mayor Bruce Harwood said.

“The 2019 calendar is an incredible showcase of our spectacular scenery, including the beautiful waterfront, the beaches and rivers of the Bellarine, and our rural heritage.

“Congratulations to all photographers voted by the community to appear in the calendar, and particularly to Ash Hughes, whose sunset shot of Eastern Beach makes a perfect front cover.”

The city will hold a public exhibition of the winning entries at the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre from January 15-29.

For more information, head to geelongaustralia.com.au/calendar.