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Photographer hopes you'll see Snowballs and Twinkling Lights in your mailbox

Winner of city's annual Christmas card contest says he wasn't even thinking of submitting the nighttime image until a friend urged him to do so

Many photos have been taken of the city’s downtown at night during the holidays.

But one, in particular, is worth hundreds of dollars and will be seen by thousands of people over the next month.

The photo, which shows Barrie’s festive downtown and Heritage Park as seen at night, was chosen as the winner of the city's annual Christmas card contest.

Snowballs and Twinkling Lights was picked by Mayor Jeff Lehman from a list of many submissions from residents of Barrie.

Dunn took the picture last December when he was out enjoying the nighttime scenery and wasn’t thinking about winning a contest with the picture.

“I was on the shore by the Spirit Catcher and took a couple shots of the city," Dunn told BarrieToday. “It wasn’t until a buddy of mine said I should send it in.

"To be honest, I didn’t even consider that at all," he added. 

Dunn attended the Nov. 25 city council meeting where his winning submission was announced and received $600 for being the winner.

His photograph will be placed on approximately 3,000 cards that are given out by staff and councillors as a holiday greeting.

Despite being a landscape photographer and having a website full of beautiful photos, Dunn says he can’t believe his submission will be seen by thousands of people over the holidays.

“I just love taking photos of our surroundings,” Dunn said. “To know so many people will get the picture in the mail for Christmas is a very cool thing.”