Photos praised highly by judge

Cara Nash

Allen Duff never expected a photo that he took while dining with his wife in the Greek Islands would result in him being crowned champion of the photography section at the 2008 Albion Park Show this month.

“We were at a restaurant overlooking the Santorini at sunset and it was a perfect photo opportunity,” he said.

“I took out my camera and started taking some holidays snaps.”

It was that photo that earned Mr Duff first place in the small print landscape section at the show.

Mr Duff also took the prize of overall winner of the coloured photography category.

A notable achievement considering the retired school principal only started to dabble in photography two years ago.

A self-deprecating Mr Duff played down his achievement.

“I don’t know what all the fuss is about,” he said.

Mr Duff attributed his interest in photography to a weekly class he attended at the Shellharbour University of the Third Age (U3A).

The U3A was established in 2003 and the Shellharbour group is part of a worldwide movement aimed at educating retired or semi-retired people by holding classes and organising social events.

For the past two years Mr Duff has been president of the group, which consists of 200 members who meet weekly.

“It was really the people in my class who talked me into putting some of my photography work into the show,” he said.

The group also persuaded Mr Duff to enter his work in the show last year.

“At last year’s Albion Park Show I placed second in the landscape section,” he said.

Mr Duff felt his skills and work had considerably improved since last year and this progress has inspired him to continue to pursue photography.

“The classes have gradually taught me to look at things in a whole different way,” he said.

“I have learnt that trying to get the perfect picture takes time and practice.

“But I am very much enjoying the challenge,” he said.

When asked whether he will enter his work in next year’s show, Mr Duff laughed.

“We’ll wait and see!” he said.

The judge of the photography competiton was renowned Tongarra photographer Dee Kramer.

Mr Kramer’s work focuses on capturing the diverse landscape of Australia with a focus on the Illawarra region.

Mr Kramer said he was impressed with the diversity and quality of the images at this year’s show.

“Selecting the winners was a challenging task,” he said

Mr Kramer had high praise for the winning photograph by Allen Duff.

“Allen Duff’s winning photo had a great mood,” Mr Kramer said.

“It had perfect composition and exposure.”