Talented young photographers see the bigger picture

12.11.11

A pouting goldfish, sheep queuing in the snow and a mischievous Bengal kitten – just some of the visual treats on offer at this year's RSPCA Young Photographer Awards (YPA 11).

A shortlist of 29 stunning shots have been selected from an incredible eight thousand entries, one of the highest numbers in recent years.
 

A stunning diversity of entries 

The varied mix of images range from terriers playing on a beach to lions snarling at each other on a savanna and ants crawling all over a clothes peg.

They have been divided into the following categories.
 

Themed categories:

• Pet Personalities
• Portfolio
• Making life better
• Garden Wildlife

Age categories:

• under 12
• 12 - 15 years
• 16 - 18 years

'The standard keeps getting higher'

The overall winner will be treated to a specialist three-day wildlife photography break with award-winning wildlife photographer Danny Green, courtesy of Natures Images, where they will learn some expert photography tips.

Danny said:

This is my third year being involved as a judge and as each year goes by the standard keeps getting higher.

I was really impressed by the under 12 category, the quality was amazing for photographers so young.

 

Gemma Padley from Amateur Photographer Magazine is also one of the judges. She said:

"The standard is, as ever, fantastically high, which makes choosing a winning image in each category very difficult indeed.

"The Pets Personalities category had some real stand out images, and the Portfolio category is a really tough one to judge.

"The technical skill and creativity across the board is staggering - very well done to everyone who entered."

'Well done to the finalists - what an amazing year!' 

RSPCA picture researcher Becky Murray said:

This is my first year as a judge and I was amazed at the level of talent.

There were stunning images from across the board of all kinds of animals - from the smallest spider to the largest bear.

Well done to the finalists - what an amazing year!

Winners to be announced at the awards ceremony 

The winners will be announced at an exclusive ceremony at the Tower of London on Friday, 16 December.

Wildlife filmmaker and TV presenter Simon King OBE is judging and presenting the awards at the event, which is supported by Warners Midlands, Hamley's, Natures Images, Wildlife Whisperer and Olympus.

 

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More about the competition

You can find out more about the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards (YPA) competition and see more stunning images from past winners at:

www.rspca.org.uk/ypa


 

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