Landscape photographer Marina McDonald just happened to be down at Yarralulma Bay at daybreak when she noticed a flock of birds flying away from a blue house boat, the shot that earned her first place in The Canberra Times winter photo competition.
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"I happened to be down around the boats at the time the sun was coming up and saw the light coming across and I was also watching all the birds," Ms McDonald said.
"There are a lot of birds that fly everywhere, they go berserk on sunrise down there or hang around the blue boat so I was standing there for probably 10-15 minutes photographing birds as they were flying around the boat, and that shot happened to have the best light in it."
Ms McDonald has entered the competition a few times since recently returning to professional photography.
"I took it up again about a year ago when I was recovering from cancer treatment so I just focused on the positives a bit more. I thoroughly enjoyed [photography]," Ms McDonald said.
She was very excited to have won first place.
For Anthony Croke, it was a combination of good timing and skill that earned him third place.
"I often go down to the lake in the morning with the camera and [it was a] very chilly, misty sort of morning," he said.
"And I remember like an idiot I was looking in the other direction and I just heard this noise and I thought 'what the hell is that?', and I turned around and all of a sudden a rowing eight and the speed boat lurched out of the fog and I was just in the right place at the right time.
"It just looked quite eerie to me, the shot, sort of a real mysterious winter sort of a mood."
Mr Croke said he showed the photo to a couple of friends who suggested he enter it in the competition.
It's not his first time in the competition either, usually entering the autumn and spring competitions.
"I would prefer to win but I'm very happy with third," Mr Croke said.
The Canberra Times spring photo competition is now open. Photographers are invited to share their best seasonal weather images and have the chance to see their photos published and share in $1000 of prizes.
To enter, send a maximum of three photos to photocomp@canberratimes.com.au as attached JPEG files and include your name, address, phone number, photo title, a description of the photo and the date it was taken.
The competition closes on November 30.
