19 September 2007
Slimbridge visitors make a splash in national photography competition
A stunning photograph of a Mute swan was the unanimous winner of the first ever WWT/Nikon Photographic Competition announced at an awards ceremony held at the WWT London Wetland Centre last night.
The awards celebrated the wealth of wildlife and wetland experiences on offer to visitors at WWT’s nine UK centres and showcased the talent of amateur and junior photographers. Linda Wright from Monmouth picked up the top prize for her Mute swan photo taken at WWT Slimbridge.
Leading the judging panel, television presenter and WWT Vice President, Chris Packham, said: “Choosing Linda’s photograph was a unanimous decision by the judges, but that’s not to say it wasn’t difficult – the standard of entries was very high. The Mute swan is a common species that’s often thought of as a nuisance. This photograph made this swan look extraordinary, and showed the beauty of this overlooked bird.”
The winner of the Digiscoping category was Eddie Howard from Dorking for his photo of a Heron taken at WWT Arundel, and the Junior winner was Kieran Slater from Stinchcombe, with his photograph of a Shelduck, also taken at WWT Slimbridge. Kieran’s winning entry was specially commended by the judge for being a difficult shot to take.
The judging panel also included Martin Spray(WWT’s Chief Executive), Marcus Hawkins (Digital Camera Magazine), Kevin Wilmot (Bird Watching magazine) and Tim Hunnable (Group Product Manager, Nikon UK Ltd). Commenting on the competition, Martin Spray said: “I am delighted to be a member of the judging panel. The range of photographs really captured WWT’s superb range of wetlands and, in particular, wildlife. The competition was a tremendous success, with over 3,300 entries from people of all ages across the UK.”
Ends
For further information, please contact Sarah Gill or Jane Waghorn in the WWT Press Office on 01453 891144 or 01453 891176, or email sarah.gill@wwt.co.uk or sarah.gill@wwt.org.uk.
Kate Cartwright, Press and PR, Nikon UK, 020 8481 6838, kate.cartwright@nikon.co.uk
Notes to Editors
· The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is a leading conservation organisation saving wetlands for wildlife and people across the world. It is the only UK charity with a network of nine specialist wetland visitor centres.
· Full details on the nine WWT centres are available at www.wwt.org.uk
· The WWT/Nikon Photographic Competition was launched in February and all photographs were taken at WWT centres across theUK .
· Expert judges at each of the nine centres had already chosen regional winners from each category, who were guests at last night’s event.
· Photographs were judged on their variety, innovation, imagination and technical accomplishment, as well as their representation of the many exciting ways that people can get close to the natural world with WWT.
· Prizes provided by Nikon included a full digiscoping kit, the Nikon D40 digital SLR and Travelite EX binoculars.