Gorgeous wildlife photographs win prestigious competition

By Ben Turner via SWNS

These nature pictures by teens and kids have been praised as the best in the UK at the RSPCA's annual young photographer awards.

Stunning photos of penguins, owls and seals in dramatic environments are among the winning shots for the national photo competition.

The top prize went to 17-year-old Ben Hancock-Smith, from Guildford, Surrey, for his impressive image of a spider weaving a web in front of a striking sunset.

Nature campaigner Chris Packham, one of the judges, said: "The high quality and range of animal photos received this year has been astounding, particularly given the restrictions of the pandemic.

"We do know that several of this year’s finalists took up photography when the first covid lockdown happened in 2020, which just shows how rewarding taking eye-catching pictures can be even during the most difficult of times."

There were ten categories for the awards with age ranges from under 12s to 16-18-year-olds.

(Maya Howarth via SWNS)

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Some were praised for extraordinary mobile phone images while others used professional cameras to take their shots.

Chris added: “I like looking at the work of young photographers as they are able to make pictures which are really, really exciting.

"Very often they haven’t learned the perceived rules that as adults we impose on ourselves when we’re making things like photographs.

"As a consequence, young people see with fresh eyes and they break the silly rules which don’t really exist anyway."

A panel of experts in wildlife photography, including Chris Packham, Catriona Parfitt and Ellie Rothnie, were judging the competition.

Prizes included invitations to exclusive photoshoots at an RSPCA animal center and Amazon vouchers.