Capture the Beauty of North Devon for Museum and AONB Annual Photography Competition

By Hyperlocal | Wednesday, August 11, 2010, 11:00

Entries

are now being invited for the North Devon Museum's popular annual

photographic competition, once again held in partnership with the North

Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

The

competition, which aims to encourage an awareness of and appreciation

for the region's character and scenery, is open to anyone with a

passion for photography and is divided into six categories: Town &

Villages; The Coast & the Sea; Anything Goes!; Characters;

Landscape and Wildlife.

The judge for this year's competition is well known and respected Bideford-based photographer Graham Hobbs.

Renowned for his large photographs of the “Little White Town", which

can be up to 20ft in length, auctions of his work have helped to raise

thousands of pounds for charity.

Many

of his images have appeared in newspapers and magazines, and have also

featured on GMTV. His work has gained worldwide recognition via the

Royal Horticultural Society as a Medici Award Winner in 2008.

celebration of the International Year of Biodiversity 2010, photographs

entered under the category Wildlife and captured within the specially

protected North Devon AONB will also be eligible for entry into an

additional category, sponsored by the AONB itself. The NDAONB is a

stunning coastal area which is of national and international importance

and has been protected since 1959. At the heart of North Devon's UNESCO

Biosphere Reserve, the are covers 66 square miles from Marsland Mouth

on the Cornish Border to Combe Martin on the boundary of Exmoor

National Park.

The North Devon AONB say:

"The

landscapes of the North Devon AONB encompass a fantastic habitat

resource for wildlife; with coastal woodlands, heathlands and extensive

sand dune systems. We will be looking for flora and fauna images that

particularly showcase the wonderful diversity and rich nature that

North Devon has. For example Braunton Burrows, is one of only two sites

in the UK for the Amber Sandbowl Snail, Catinella arenaria, which is

found in the wet dune slacks."

Naturalist

and AONB champion, Trevor Beer MBE, will be judging this special

category of the competition. Trevor currently writes on Natural History

as a wildlife writer for several publications including the Western

Morning News, North Devon Journal and Exmoor Magazine. A keen and

renowned photographer himself, his specialist knowledge of the local

flora and fauna of Devon makes his involvement with the competition

particularly noteworthy.

The closing

date for all entries is the 18th October and the awards presentation

and critique will take place at the Museum of Barnstaple and North