Tricia’s ‘Strawberry Patch’ photo a national winner (June 2015)

A happy snap of a family picking strawberries is the winner of the 2015 Australian Star Prize for Rural Photography.

The delightful moment captured by Adelaide Advertiser photographer, Tricia Watkinson wins a $1,000 cash prize from the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ) which coordinates the prestigious annual award.

Judges described the photo of a father and his two young daughters filling their basket with luscious fruit at Hahndorf as a beautiful image. It showed excellent composition and technical skill, while at the same time capturing the emotional family connection.

The winning entry was chosen from a strong field of finalists submitted by rural press clubs around Australia.

The best photos in each of three categories – people, production and nature/landscape – will now represent Australia in the World Star Prize contest to be judged at the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists’ 2015 World Congress in New Zealand in October.

The strawberry photo was selected as the winner in the production category and was originally part of Tricia Watkinson’s winning portfolio in RMSA’s 2014 Rural Business Support Rural Media Awards.

Another Adelaide Advertiser photographer, Tait Schmaal entered the winning nature/landscape pic, a dramatic view of a bushfire at Bangor. Fire fighters and vehicles are gathered in the foreground with a water bombing helicopter circling overhead.

Photos by both Tricia Watkinson and Tait Schmaal were selected by a three-member panel of award-winning photographers and submitted in the national contest by Rural Media South Australia.