By Martin Vedris

SYDNEY: Panasonic has selected the winner of its ‘Lumix Sharp Shots’ photo competition from over 800 submissions — the first prize, valued at $30,000, is two round the world tickets traveling business class, plus $5,000 spending money.

Kristal Russ of Derby, WA, won the top prize with a black and white portrait of her dog ‘Chief’. The image was titled ‘For the love of it’ and was taken by Russ with her Lumix DMC-TZ3 at the dog’s favourite swimming hole.

“The shot was taken at a local attraction known as Myalls Bore, a 120m long trough, believed to be the longest in the southern hemisphere, about 6 km from my hometown Derby. Usually a popular spot for tourists and locals alike looking for a good sunset snap but well known to me for being the favourite swimming hole for my beloved dog Chief!”

“Being the water enthusiast he is, usually bouncing from one end to the other, I was lucky enough to snap him on a breather to get the shot, that and he’s an uncanny poser so he always brings good character to his photos, especially this one. I called it ‘For the love of it’ simply because there is truly nothing else in the world that makes him happier than being in the water; it is the love of his life.”

The winning entry was selected from over 800 submissions by Peter Eastway, Editor of Better Photography magazine.

“Congratulations to Kristal for her engaging portrait of a hot dog taking a cool bath,” said Eastway. “Strong composition, unusual subject posing and a brave approach with the creative black and white mode on the TZ3 LUMIX camera have won her the round the world trip of a lifetime!”

The winning images can be viewed on the ‘Sharp Shots’ competition gallery at http://www.lumix.com.au.