Autumn definitely appears to be Chad Clarke's photographic dream season, as he was named the winner of The Canberra Times autumn photography competition for the second year in a row.
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Mr Clarke, from Lyneham, is a regular entrant in the competition, and previously won in autumn last year for his snap of the moon on an eerie Canberra morning.
But this year, his winning image captured one of the city's iconic autumn balloons and our American 'Eagle' peeking through the cloudy skies.
Mr Clarke said that although he always keeps an eye out for foggy forecasts, this particular photo at the Campbell lookout was "a lucky shot".
"In Autumn I like to get up early in the morning when there is plenty of fog. I went up Mount Ainslie and got a couple of photos there, but they were fairly average. So I drove down and saw that there were some clear skies over Campbell, I drove over there and I was just lucky with the balloon in the air," Mr Clarke said.
"I've taken photos there before, but that is the first time I've had a view like that. It just popped up for about a minute and then ducked back down. So I was pretty lucky."
The two runners up were Fraser's Connie O'Day in second and Alan Hajek, from O'Connor, in third.
Ms O'Day managed to capture her seven-year-old son, Oliver, blowing dandelions, or as he calls them "wish-fairies", in the park behind their house at sunset, while Mr Hajek used his dog, Laddie, and his wife, Renee, as his models running through the autumn leaves on their morning walk.
"It was just a right-time, right-place kind of photo," Ms O'Day said, "The sun was just right and I wanted to capture that moment with my son."
Mr Hajek also said his love of taking photos was being able to capture and share a lovely moment.
"I like that photography can capture a happy memory and those leaves just made a beautiful scene."
All three photographers agreed that autumn was the most photographic season.
"Autumn is a great time to take photos. There is plenty of colour and plenty of fog and clouds. It's the best season, I think, for photography," Mr Clarke, the winning photographer, said.
But if you'd like to try your hand at winter photography, photographers are invited to share their best seasonal weather snaps and have the chance to too see their photos published and share in $1000 worth of prizes.
To enter, send a maximum of three photos to photocomp@canberratimes.com.au as attached JPEG files and include your name, address, contact number, photo title, a description of the photo and the date it was taken. The competition closes on August 31. Full terms and conditions, including copyright rules, are available here.
