NEWS - Rubbish-bin camera wins photo contest

Some simple homemade ingenuity has won bricklayer Jon Poyner this year’s Club Kids Fun Photo Contest from pleasureboat insurer Club Marine.

The NSW amateur photographer captured an encounter between his daughter Georgia and a gentle stingray at a Narooma boat ramp using a unique above-and-below-waterline style. He wins a four-day trip for two to Andrew “ET” Ettingshausen’s Escape Sportfishing and Wilderness Lodge on Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Poyner used a small plastic rubbish bin with a hole in one side. “I glued a piece of glass over the hole with silicon sealing,” he explained. “And when we got to the boat ramp, I just put the camera in the bin and kept shooting until I got the shot.”

Launched in October 2009, the Club Kids Fun Photo Contest challenged Australia’s and NZ’s proudest parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to submit their favourite photos of kids on or around the water. Co-sponsored by the Escape with ET TV show and Big W, the contest ran for 12
months and received more 2000 photos from across the two countries.

Greg Fisher, Club Marine CEO, says the Club Kids Fun Photo Contest has been as rewarding for Club Marine as it has been for those who submitted photos. “Seeing the thousands of photos that came in reminded us all why we’re in the business we’re in,” Fisher said. “And they proved that the active marine lifestyle is alive and well in the next generation of fishers and boaters.”

Poyner is now turning his attention to his trip to Groote Eylandt with his daughter, Georgia, who is tremendously excited about the trip. “She’s never been on a plane before,” said the proud dad. “This will definitely be one of the most memorable events of her childhood.”

To see the full gallery of Club Kids photos, log on www.clubmarine.com.au

Photo: Amateur photographer Jon Poyner used a modified rubbish bin to get this above-and-below encounter between his daughter Georgia and a stingray at Narooma.