Rotorua student snaps way to Bay award

A love for photography and kayaking has paid off for Western Heights High School student Sam Sutton.

Sam has won the Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools' Photography Competition and also collected the "people" category. Sam's winning entry was taken at a river during a day out kayaking with his brother Jamie. He asked his brother to splash water on his face and took some shots.

He plans to take kayaking photos with his prize, a new digital camera. Teacher Bryony Edwards said she encouraged all of her 50 students to enter the competition. The photographs were all printed in black and white and judging came down to a process of elimination, according to Waiariki photography tutor and competition judge Alex Wilson. "It was no easy task to come up with the winners," he said.

The photography competition attracted 70 entries and Renee Morris of Whakatane's Trident High School won the abstract category while Melissa Parker of Western Heights High School in Rotorua took out the landscape section.