One day several months he decided to relax his arms and take some photos and now he is in the running to win prizemoney as part of the Our Lake - 50 years photo competition.

"We're very lucky to have the lake," he said.

His photos - one with mate Bill Caddey in the foreground - show Black Mountain in the distance.

It was one of a number of images submitted demonstrating their countless number of activities that take place on Canberra's central body of water - a lake that was much more than just an ornament.

Readers are invited to share their photos of Lake Burley Griffin as part of the Our Lake – 50 years photo competition, which runs till the end of October.

There will be two categories with a total of $1000 prizemoney on offer. The first category invites readers to search their family albums for old photos celebrating the lake as a centre of Canberra life.

Since many Canberrans may be new to the city, the second category is for photos taken this year.

A prize of $500 will be awarded for the photo judged the best in each category.

To enter the competition, send up to three photos to photocomp@canberratimes.com.au as JPEG files at least 150 kilobytes to a maximum of one megabyte.

Include your name, address, phone number, photo title and a description of where and when it was taken. Click or touch here for full terms and conditions.