Announcing the Winning Entries in the Young, Junior and Senior Categories
2025 marks the second year that we have run the Young Wild Photographer competition, aiming the echo the success of our long-running Young Wild Writers contest, so it was exciting to see a big increase in entries this year.
We were thrilled that renowned wildlife photographer Richard Birchett agreed to do the judging once again. And very grateful to sponsors Opticron for providing the prizes.
Wildlife photography has so many benefits for children and young people, encouraging their curiosity and observational skills, cultivating a sense of wonder about the natural world.
Above all, we want to encourage young people to get out into the natural environment and gain an appreciation of wildlife and the importance of conservation.
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The Theme: Capture the Moment
Nature photography is a wonderful way to ‘capture the moments that matter’ in the life of our plants, birds, and animals. For this year’s competition, we were looking for images from young photographers that capture a single moment in nature. From the first drops of rain on a leaf to the emergence of busy bees and butterflies, or a dew-laden spiderweb caught in early sunlight, we wanted to see your shots of these welcome moments in nature.
And our young entrants did not disappoint!
Young Category (5-8 Years Old)
Winner: Emily Brackley
Emily told us:
“I took this at RSPB Bempton Cliffs. I didn’t believe my dad when he told me the inside of their mouths was orange, so I focused on this one’s head and waited for the moment it opened its mouth.”
Richard said:
“I like that fact Emily used a good portion of the frame to capture some behaviour of the beautiful Razorbill calling with space either side to give it room to move. The closest bird is nice and sharp with good detail on the bill and eye and a good overall depth of field to capture the rest of the bird in focus. It’s not always easy to capture a black & white bird but she has done well here which has allowed for a well exposed image.
A worthy winner in the Age 5-8 category.”
Junior Category (9-12 Years Old)
Winner: Arran Fulton
Arran told us:
“I took the picture in my garden in the lavender flowers. The bees were constantly coming and going, and I had to wait for the right moment to capture the detail of the bee before it flew away.”
Richard said:
“You can’t beat bees in the summer feeding on nectar from beautiful lavender flowers. Although using the rule of thirds is good I think here having the bee in the centre of the frame works well.
It’s also nice to see a good level of sharpness in the image and especially around the wings and the eyes, and a nice diffused background also adds to the image.
Well done Arran for capturing this wonderful image.”
Senior Category (13-16 Years Old)
Winner: Jack Brackley
Jack told us:
“I took this in Oakham, near Rutland Water, where ospreys breed. It shows the moment an osprey grabbed a fish from the water in its powerful talons. It was really tough to capture as they are so quick!”
Richard said:
“Ospreys are incredibly fast birds especially when hunting, you’ve seconds to capture the action. The wings are beautifully frozen and with that intense stare as it makes off with it’s prize. The bird is exposed really well and I like how the water droplets are covering the bird. A fast shutter speed and a good depth of field is required to allow the whole bird to be in focus from front to back, a good sharp eye also gives the image that impact. It’s also great to see some subject separation from the background allowing the Osprey to stand out.
Such an incredible achievement that Jack should be proud of capturing and winning his category.”
Congratulations from all at Hen Harrier Action to Emily, Arran and Jack
Your prizes of £100 Opticron vouchers will be on their way to you in the next few days, for you to put towards your choice from the range of high quality binoculars, field scopes and digiscoping equipment from this leading UK optical supplier.
