Young Photographer Winners

Winner

Buzzing along

Photographer: Cameron Smith

"I live in Suffolk, where I took this picture in my garden, on a sunny June afternoon. I had borrowed my Dad’s camera and I was wandering around the plants taking pictures of the flowers and wildlife, when I saw the bee buzzing just by a purple flower and I decided to try to take a photo of it. Luckily it did not fly away, but stayed buzzing from one side of the flower to the other, so I just kept taking lots of pictures until it eventually flew away. I chose this picture because it was sharp and well composed."

Location: Wetheringsett, Suffolk, UK

Camera details: EOS10D, 100mm f2.8 Macro USM lens,  shutter speed 180^th Sec, aperture f3.5, ISO 400

Runner-up

An Agama lizard basking in the midday sun

Photographer: Elliot Tebbs

"We were on safari this summer in the Masai Mara Game Reserve when I spotted this vibrantly coloured Agama lizard close to the Masai Mara river in Kenya enjoying the sun on a rock, I took a few pictures of it but as I moved closer it ran off into the undergrowth and I gave chase. After a short while it stopped and I managed to get this image; my favourite because I managed to get the lizard looking directly into my lens and its eyes perfectly in focus which was difficult as I was limited to manual focus because of the lens adapter."

Location:Masai Mara game reserve, Kenya

Camera details: Canon 550d, f4, 1/800^th, ISO 100, taken with a Nikon 80-200 f2.8 lens with Nikon to Canon lens adapter (Manual focus had to be used) 

Highly commended

Tree in Dordogne

Photographer: Ailish Fowler

"This photo was taken in France in Dordogne, where we were on holiday. We were driving by when we saw a few trees alone so we stopped to take some photos. A friend and I were photographing the trees and also the sunset behind. My friend, being a more advanced photographer then me, snapped away and came away with some beautiful shots. I also got a few good ones, this being my best, and thought it was suitable for the competition. The same friend was actually the person who recommended I entered this particular photo. I like how you have a contrast between the blades of cereal situated in foreground with the larger solitary tree behind, sharing the same environment."

Location: Dordogne, France

Camera details: Fujifilm, FinePix, S5700 camera, aperture f/6.7, shutter speed 1/512 seconds ISO-64