Customer snaps up photo prize

Balconette has reported an impressive response to its annual customers’ photography competition this year.

More than 500 buyers of its balustrades and juliet balconies entered photographs of their installations, with entries ranging from smart-phone snaps to serious amateur photo studies. The winner, Graeme Jones in Kent’s High Weald area, won a £1,000 cash prize along with a bottle of bubbly.

The winning entry shows a fiery summer sunset from Jones’s balcony, with the hills of the Weald in the distance. It beat off strong competition from more than 500 other entrants, all tasked with showing the benefits of a modern glass balcony. Entries came from all corners of the British Isles and, according to the judges, demonstrated considerable photographic skill and an eye for natural beauty.

The competition is held annually and is open to all Balconette’s customers. This year’s – despite lockdowns – proved the most popular yet, the company said.

Graeme’s glass balustrade, installed by Balconette’s registered installer Timbertech Southern, gives him his own outdoor space to enjoy the spectacular view.

“I usually like to walk around the garden each evening if I can and I stepped out of the back door shortly after a rainstorm had passed to see the amazing sunset,” Graeme said. “I had my mobile with me, and I simply stood back and took the picture, it wasn’t composed in any way, it was just as I saw it.

“When I was told I had won the overall competition for the year I just couldn’t believe it. I feel very lucky. I’m pleased that if the deck area had been finished with anything other than a glass balustrade, the photograph just wouldn’t have been the same.”