East Albury’s hobbyist photographer Alistair McBurnie took out a national competition with his evocative image, Rower.

McBurnie won the inaugural Canon Light Awards 2015 – open to professional and amateur photographers – announced in Sydney on Saturday night.

He said the award was one of the most surreal experiences of his life.

“I’d taken this picture on a lifeless, foggy day in France – a trip we saved for years to take as a birthday present for my wife – and we waited ages for the rower to reach that spot in the lake we were walking by,” McBurnie said. 

“I never thought such a simple image could win the competition, let alone the grand final.”

Judges said of Rower: “A beautiful subtle moment captured with the rower equally translated through the use of space in the image and soft tones.

“This picture encapsulates that concept and embodies emotion along with it thanks to the tones and space in the composition.”

McBurnie and his wife Jacqui planned to visit Mont Blanc on the day he took the photograph in Annecy, an alpine town in south-eastern France.

“It was a shocking day and it ended up we couldn’t see Mont Blanc,” he said.

“We stayed in town and I shot in town.

“I didn’t think it was anything special because you don’t see what you’ve got until you print it.” 

Canon Australia launched the Canon Light Awards – monthly photography challenges for Canon camera users in Australia – in 2015.

McBurnie won the April award, based on The Bigger Picture brief, which put him in the grand final. 

From 10,000 entries Australia-wide over 12 months, McBurnie won the grand final open section and West Australian Benn Tudor Roberts took out the student section. 

Both won a trip for two to Namibia, Africa, with the Canon Collective, to be part of a 21-day photography safari alongside three professional photographers and equipment.

McBurnie urged photographers to enter the awards.

“This experience has been as amazing as it is humbling for me, and I really hope I can pay it forward to other photography lovers,” he told The Border Mail.

Rower will be displayed at Foto Supplies Camera House in Albury next week.