The exceptional shot entitled 'Lake Hart, SA' taken by Shane & Robyn Bell, has taken out the inaugural grey nomads photographic competition.  The atmospheric image which our judge, Travel Today editor Steve Jones, described as “stunning” and “endlessly fascinating” was the clear winner despite strong public support for all six finalists.
“I think the voting public has chosen wisely,” said Steve. “Lake Hart really has got the lot … it’s beautifully framed, technically perfect and it just tells a story. For a website devoted to the joys of exploring Australia  there could be no more fitting winner.
For all its obvious attributes, Lake Hart still had to hold off strong support for our runner-up, the cheeky, quirky ‘Frog in a Downpipe’ taken by Pat Martin, which was a surprise late addition to our final six.
“I don’t know what to say about  ‘Frog in a Downpipe’ except to say it has certainly got something,” says Steve. “I think the fact it was taken by someone who simply put a camera down a pipe to see what would come out just adds to its irreverent appeal  ... I think grey nomad voters enjoyed the maverick spirit.”
While, as previously mentioned all six of our finalists received strong support, a special mention must go to 'Walking on Water' which missed out on the runners-up spot by just two votes.  It was not until the stroke of midnight when the voting lines closed that the result could be declared with any confidence.
Thanks again to everybody who took part in the competition. It was a lot of fun and plans are already afoot to get the ball rolling with another photographic shoot out. Watch this space.
A set of Caraview Towing Mirrors will soon be posted to our winner and  a copy of the Grey Nomad’s Guidebook to our runner-up. Congratulations to both of you.
We invited the photographers of the final six photos to tell us a bit more about their photo such as where it was taken, what they were trying to capture when the took the shot and anything else they thought was interesting about the process.
Click here to see what they said.