CJS Photography Competition: The Winners
The Winners.
After over a year we've
finally reached the end of the competition.
It's been incredible to see all your wonderful photos and we feel very
privileged to have been able to share them with all our readers.
Each month selecting just one
winner seemed to become ever more difficult so picking just one winner from all
the entries was a huge undertaking, after narrowing it down to a shortlist of
seven we ended up voting for first and second places using a CJS devised system
of proportional representation! Ultimately, there were only two votes between
first and second place.
Our overall
winner: solitary bee (Andrena haemorrhoa)
in gorse by Marco McGinty.
We all agreed the colour of
the gorse flower was eye catching and harmonised nicely with the slightly
darker honeyed tomes of the bee, perfect placed in the corner of the image with
every detail clearly visible.
Marco said: I was visiting
a local nature reserve to birdwatch and gather some invertebrate records, and I
took a number of photographs to assist with any identification issues (I have a
personal no-kill policy, hence the photos). I noticed a number of solitary bees
(Andrena haemorrhoa) flying around a
particular gorse bush, so stood for a while to get some photos, and see if
there was anything else to note in this spot." he adds: " I have a
preference to show invertebrates in their natural surroundings, giving a brief
glimpse into their short, busy, but incredibly important lives. A second later,
the bee had flown again. It's a relatively simple image which I hope does
convey this to some extent."
Runner up goes to Val Gall's
photo of the red stag wading up a burn.
When we awarded Val first
place back in October for the Wildlife Theme we said: The red stag is a
beautifully balanced, perfectly composed and in focus image. Every hair is
visible, the texture of the antlers and the spikiness of the gorse, even the
water running down the lifted stepping foreleg which together with the
disrupted reflection in the water below all come together to create a sense of
movement in what is a quite serene image.
Val was "over the moon
to have second place" and says: “I was watching a dipper feeding on the
edge of water when I heard splashing to my right. A beautiful red deer stag was
walking through water heading straight towards me. A very precious moment”.
We also have two highly
commended images.
Lakeland Summer by John Jones
CJS said this is such an
atmospheric image and captures a "typical" Lakeland summers day very
well! The photo is beautifully balanced
with the walker and collie on either side of the standing stone, both braced
against the wind and the distant fells a moody purple.
Bank Vole by Adrian Dangerfield
CJS said: Another great
photo, once again in perfect focus from the little paws to every hair and
whisker, the russet brown of the vole's fur is somehow made more intense by the
bright fallen flowers which also illustrate just how small a creature it is. Adrian
says: "the picture wasn’t taken with anything fancy, just my 5 year old
Samsung Galaxy Smartphone. I enjoy getting out for walks with my camera
but always have my phone with me as a standby. I read somewhere that the
best equipment for a photographer is what they have at the time and this was
certainly the case."
Reader's Choice Winner:
Daytime Pipistrelle Bat by Kim Bliss
Obviously lots of you have
been enjoying the photos, we had hundreds of votes for the readers' choice and from
all over the world as it turns out as this comment shows: "So many amazing
photographs of wildlife. Hard to choose from such talented photographers. An
eye opener for me as a New Zealander, how many beautiful creatures the UK has.
Enjoying the solo bat."
By a significant margin the
clear winner is the lovely daytime pipistrelle by Kim Bliss.
Kim says she's: "happy
to share this of a pipestrelle bat I found resting at Tilgate Park, woodland in
Crawley, West Sussex. It was a rare find that made my day, especially when he
had flown at dusk safely! ( I hope!)"
The comments show how much
this most unusual sight appeals:
Amazing picture and never
seen a bat in the daylight.
The photographer must be very
observant to have captured this shot. How wonderful to find a pipistrelle
slumbering & looking so comfortable.
Beautiful photograph of a
rarely seen bat, In daylight too, very impressive, what a great photographer
It's been an eye opening year
for us looking at all your marvellous images and we hope it has is some way
illustrated the depth and complexity of working in the countryside. One
reader's choice voter comment sums up the completion better than we could:
"Well done all. Stunning Images of our natural world and the dangers our
wildlife faces and the severe environmental Issues that we must all address
before it's too late"