|
 |
| |
With a record number of stunning shots to choose from, the judges
of Cats Protection’s annual photo competition had a tough
job on their hands choosing five winning feline faces.
“I was very impressed with the overall standard and quality of the photos,
which made it really hard choosing the winners,” said freelance photographer,
Paul Keevil, who specialises in animal photography and was one of this year’s
judges. “I was particularly impressed that people had gone to such great
lengths to achieve really outstanding shots - they clearly went to a lot of trouble
and effort.”
The categories in this year’s competition, which was sponsored
by Felix, included: Best Friends; Loveable Rascal; Cuddly Kittens
and Perfect Pin-up.
An additional photo was picked for the top prize – "Cats
Protection Photo of the Year".
Overall
winner (3607 entries in total)
Tony Willitt of Havant, Hampshire for his photo of Minnie.
The top prize package for Tony’s winning ‘Photo
of the Year’ includes a £400 voucher for photographic
equipment, a year’s supply of Felix cat food, a framed
photograph of Minnie (his winning subject), a certificate and
a £75 food voucher for the Portsmouth Branch of Cats
Protection.
Tony was thrilled to learn he had won Cats Protection’s
photo competition, but did have an inkling he could do well. “Although
I was surprised to hear I’d won, everyone I’d shown
the photo to really liked it so I was hoping for the best,” said
Tony.
Minnie, his brown Burmese, is quiet, observant and clever and
Tony says she is always interested when the camera comes out. “She
loves the garden, climbing and bird-watching on a nice day,
so I find it easiest to photograph her there.”
This is the third time he has entered the competition and would
like to enter again next year, but maybe in the cute kittens’ category. “We
are planning to get a kitten soon so if I can get a good shot,
you never know!” |
Minnie |
Category winners
Category winners each received a £200 voucher for photographic
equipment, three month’s supply of Felix cat food, a framed
copy of their winning photo, a £50 food voucher for the Cats
Protection Branch of their choice, and a certificate.
Best Friends (592 entries)
Laurel Steinbeck of Haverhill, Suffolk for his photo
of Millie and Benson.
Laurel won this category with a stunning photo of his beautiful
Burmese sleeping cats.
Millie and Benson, both four-years-old, are always together.
They both love the camera – and the camera clearly loves
them!
“Millie and Benson are brother and sister so usually play-fight when they’re
awake and then cuddle up when they’re asleep! When I saw them all curled
up I just thought what a nice shot that would be,” said Laurel.
Laurel has been taking photographs for nearly 30 years and
specialises in landscape photography. He also has an impressive
selection of cat portraits, but was very surprised to hear
he had won the Best Friends category. “I don’t
normally enter competitions but I saw this in a magazine and
had to give it a go - I never expected to win anything!” he
said. |
Millie and Benson
|
Loveable Rascal (1747entries)
Andrea Finnegan of Oldham, Lancashire for her photo of
a cat on the prowl.
This handsome tabby and white feline couldn’t fail to
capture the hearts of the judges, even though Andrea had to
lie on the ground and take around 40 shots before getting a
good photo of the cat!
Andrea is studying photography at university and plans to use
this shot as part of her coursework. She takes pictures of
many subjects, but cats are her favourite.
She was delighted to have won the category, but wasn’t
sure whether she would be a winner. “I wasn’t that
confident because I realise it all depends on the judges’ decision,
but my university tutors liked it so I was hoping the panel
would too.” |
Cat on the Prowl |
Cuddly Kittens
(370 entries)
Martin Dalton of Chadwell-St-Mary, Essex for his photo
of Daisy.
Cute Daisy had a sad start to life when she was abandoned in a field. Martin
and his wife noticed how hungry she looked and ended up taking in the homeless
kitten!
Daisy now belongs to the couple’s seven-year-old niece who Martin said
was overjoyed when she heard the photo of Daisy had won. “Although I was
really pleased to hear that the judges liked my photograph, I think it was my
niece who was most excited!”
This is the first year Martin’s entered the competition,
but says he will enter again next year if he snaps another
good shot.
“Daisy is really easy to photograph,” Martin said. “She just
sits happily in the garden and lets me take as many pictures as I want.” |
Daisy |
Perfect
pin-up (898 entries)
Barbara Ritchie of Corwen, Denbighshire for her photo
of Thomas.
Barbara’s reaction to winning the Perfect Pin-up category
was one of total amazement. “I just couldn’t believe
it when I heard I’d won. I never win anything!”
Barbara adopted Thomas, a long-haired tabby, from the Wrexham
Branch of Cats Protection five years ago. She says he has a
habit of appearing everywhere, especially in front of the camera. “One
of his hobbies is photography and I often see him posing. For
this shot he appeared in the garden and I just took a few photos,
never expecting one of them would be a winner.”
Photography is a hobby for homemaker, Barbara, who likes to
photograph flowers and landscapes as well as cats, although
Thomas clearly prefers being her centre of attention! |
Thomas |
|
|
