Berkshire Life - Capture the beauty of our region

Capture the beauty of our region

THIS year marks the CPRE’s 80th anniversary. For eight decades the organisation has been working tirelessly to protect the countryside and enhance it for everyone. Originally known as the Council for the Protection of Rural England, the organisation, whose president is currently the respected journalist and historian Sir Max Hastings, himself a Berkshire resident, changed its name in 2003 to reflect its campaigning nature. Its main aim is to protect and enhance our rural environment, which is increasingly under threat from a growing demand for housing and burgeoning commercial pressures.

Says CPRE Berkshire’s recently retired branch chairman Mike Spence, “Considering England’s high population density and the huge growth in population and prosperity since CPRE’s foundation, you might conclude our campaigning and behind-the-scenes influence to have been highly successful. England still has huge tracts of diverse and very beautiful countryside. However, each year about 21 square miles of English countryside is lost to concrete and asphalt. The countryside, its wildlife and natural resources as well as its sheer beauty and tranquillity, are under threat from sprawl, new road and airport infrastructure, and from noise, air and light pollution.

“Farming is under pressure to become ever more intensive and productive to meet global competition and yet we expect farmers to be among the leading custodians of the countryside. Climate change is another threat. So, after 80 years, there may be plenty to celebrate but we face enormous challenges in the future. We have a tough fight on our hands to ensure that England will have some real countryside left after the next eight decades.”

The photography competition is therefore intended to attract images that capture the essence of our rural landscapes and heritage in Berkshire and the Chilterns. It is being run in association with the Berkshire branch of the CPRE.

■ HOW TO ENTER: Simply email your images as jpegs (low resolution initially) to clockbound@cix.co.uk (If your entry (entries) is short-listed we will ask you to submit a high-resolution image.

Mark the subject: Berkshire & Chilterns Life Photography Competition.

With your entry you must also supply: Your name; address; telephone number; email address; location of your image and the date on which it was taken.

(Entries must have been shot within the past 12 months.) Should your entry be short-listed, you agree to forfeit the copyright of your image for a period of 12 months, after which time the copyright will revert to you.

RULES
■ The competition is open to all amateur photographers, with a maximum of three entries per person.
All images must be submitted digitally and should not be larger than 3Mb. No prints or transparencies will be accepted.
■ To be considered for publication on the front cover, images must be available at 300dpi, A4 size.
■ There are three categories:
1. Landscape (distant views and recognisable landmarks),
2. Farming past and present,
3. Human heritage (this last category can include field systems, ancient landmarks and historic buildings).
■ The closing date of the competition is October 31 2006 and the winners will be announced in the February 2007 issue of Berkshire & Chilterns Life.
■ If you wish your image(s) to be considered for the front cover of the magazine your entry (entries) must be shot in a portrait format with sufficient room at the top to incorporate the Berkshire/Chiltern Life logo. Images that are shot in horizontal format will be considered for publication inside the magazine.
■ A maximum of four winning images may appear as front covers over a period of up to 12 months, although if there are not enough images of sufficiently high standard, the judges reserve the right not to publish any entry on the front cover.
■ The overall winner will receive a cash prize of £100, donated by the CPRE Berkshire Branch, in the form of a voucher to be spent on photographic materials.
■ Up to 12 runners up will have their images published inside a future issue of Berkshire & Chiltern Life.
■ The judges' decision is final and no communication will be entered into either during or after the competition.
THE JUDGES
■ Dr Christina Hill DL is the CPRE Berkshire Branch’s new chairman.
■ Tessa Harris is the editor of Berkshire & Chilterns Life. Her career in magazines spans almost
20 years on both regional and national titles.
■ David Watson is a Marlow-based photographer whose work regularly appears in Berkshire & Chilterns Life. He is accredited by the National Trust.