Winner announced of Visit South Devon Photograph Competition 2018
Visit South Devon, the official tourism organisation for South Devon, has announced the winners of its 2018 South Devon Photograph Competition.
With a record breaking 570 entries (an increase of 1000% from 2017) from holiday makers, locals, professional and amateur photographers, this year has been tougher than ever.
The photographs had to capture the essence of South Devon that we all know and love and what the region has to offer. From the 570 entries, Visit South Devon faced the tough task of whittling those down to 25 images, which were then put out to public vote which closed on the 15th October.
The overall winner has been revealed as Joe Toakley from Devon and his image of Bantham Beach.
Joe’s image will be used as the homepage image on the Visit South Devon website for the next 3 months, a site which receives over 1.3 million visits each year and just under 3 million page views.
Joe Toakley said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be announced the winner of the 2018 Visit South Devon Photography Competition. I saw this photo opportunity at Bantham Beach when my son started playing with the tide crashing over the rocks. I submitted this one in particular as I think it perfectly suited the subject of the competition, to depict South Devon. There really is no single picture that can fulfill this in its entirety, but I would describe this picture as "views, discovery, excitement". All things that make South Devon what it is (and so much more).”
Sarah Stride, General Manager for Visit South Devon said: “We have been overwhelmed with the quality of this year’s entries, and it was a really tough job choosing the top 25 from such a great range of photographs. We love Joe’s image as it really captures the playful spirit of South Devon and the unique coastline that this part of the county has to offer.”
The 2 runners up were Francesca Cipriani and Davide D'Antonio from Italy with their image of Start Point, and Ally Lowry from Devon with her image of a Highland cow on Dartmoor.
The images will be used as the cover photos for the Visit South Devon Twitter and Facebook accounts until the end of the year which have over 30,000 followers.
As well as the top 3 images receiving online exposure, each photographer wins a family ticket to enjoy a day out at one of Devon's Top Attractions during 2019, courtesy of Devon Association of Tourist Attractions. With over 40 to choose from there is a fantastic selection of varied days out, from theme parks, farms and wildlife attractions and historic houses and gardens, to beautiful natural attractions or boat, train or tram rides. www.devonstopattractions.co.uk
Anne Blackham from Devon's Top Attractions said: “We were delighted to be a part of this competition to showcase how wonderful South Devon is, and pleased to be able to offer the winners tickets so they can continue to enjoy South Devon and its wonderful array of attractions.”
All finalists also have the option, if they wish, to write a guest blog post on South Devon and Photography which will be hosted on the popular Visit South Devon blog.
The full 25 finalists can be viewed via this link: https://www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk/visit-south-devon/photo-competition
For more information on South Devon go to www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk
