Autumn Trees Photo Competition winner
Now that the leaves on trees have mostly fallen, it is easy to forget how beautiful our borough looks in autumn, but the entries to the Autumn Trees Photo Competition are a good and lasting reminder.
On Friday 22 November, the competition closed after eight weeks of entries celebrated the seasonal beauty of the borough. More than 200 photographs were submitted and are available to see in the Pride in Our Community Facebook Group and Flickr.
Such was the quality of submissions, Judges had a hard time choosing a favourite.
The panel of five judges each chose their favourite three photos and then selected the winner.
After much deliberation, Wellington-based MOD fire fighter Mark Pritchard won the day with a photo of Apley Woods.
His photo was selected as the overall winner because the judges felt it captured the full beauty of the season. The high autumn sun filtering through a mix of woodland trees, including golden beech, silver birch, sycamore and ash. The leaves clinging to the trees and carpeting the woodland floor are a dazzling mix of yellow, orange and red. The line of the trees, aided by the wooden fence on the left also lead the eye through the photo.
The photo was also popular with the members of the Pride in Our Community Facebook group which hosted the competition.
Other photographs that impressed the judges were photos of Ironbridge by Stephen Davies, Ness Egan’s photos of the Eastern Primary Geological Wall and a shot overlooking Coalbrookdale by Barry Wheeler.
Matthew Seabrook, competition judge and tree officer at Telford & Wrekin Council whose idea it was to run the competition, said: “In autumn our borough really comes into its own and I love watching the leaves change colour over the season. My idea for the competition was to capture this and I have enjoyed seeing everyone’s photos.
“The photos are all fantastic, we clearly have a lot of very creative people who love autumn as much as I do. Choosing one was really hard, as in my mind everyone is a winner. Our congratulations go to Mark though for a super photo.
“On behalf of the judges and council, I would like to thank everyone for entering the competition and brightening the feed in the Facebook group.”
Mark will be awarded a tree to plant in a choice of locations for the public to enjoy for years to come – the choice of tree will be based on a ‘right tree in the right place’ approach and will include fruiting trees. Mark will also be invited along to help with the planting in the coming weeks, and his winning photo will become the cover photo for the Pride in Our Community Facebook Group.
