Top Shot – Photography at AWBF

Top Shot

(photo by Doug Thost)

Photography has always been a big part of the AWBF. At every Australian Wooden Boat Festival, there are hundreds of lenses trained on the boats, the people, the entertainment and the gangs of friends enjoying the social weekend of the year. Our trained and dedicated crew of accredited festival photographers capture thousands of beautiful images all over the site and on the water, too. That collection of images becomes a library that we mine for the next two years to illustrate our publications, answer media requests, populate our on-line collections and generally recall what a wonderful event it was.

The Hobart Photographic Society provides most of the professional muscle for this operation and Photography Manager Rob Oates | BALLANTYNE Photography, oversees a tightly-scripted program designed to capture all the action, whether it’s on land, sea or in the air. When international journalist Kaci Cronkhite visited the Photography Centre at the 2017 festival, she exclaimed: ‘This is, hands down, the most professional operation I have seen anywhere in the world!’ We agree, and we’re very grateful for the amazing work our photojournalists do.

Then, every once in a while, a lucky individual happens to be in the right place at the right time, with a camera in hand. They point, compose and shoot and what comes out is a remarkable moment, captured in light, that says something timeless about the Australian Wooden Boat Festival.

This one comes from festival supporter Peter Elphick, who is no novice with a camera, as you can see.

If you would like to see more great photography, log on to our Galleries to view hundreds more images.  Browsing is free! You can even purchase prints if there’s something you really like, or download a hi-res file to your computer for a small fee.  All donations go to supporting the festival and keeping it free to the public.