Member Article

Snap happy! Competition puts young photographers in the frame

Young photographers in the York and Selby area have been praised for the high standard of their work in a pioneering competition.

Escrick-based environmental charity the Hagge Woods Trust has run Snap Wild, a wildlife photography competition to encourage young people to explore the wildlife on their doorstep.

The competition was part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Hagge Woods Trust Eco-Explorers project in partnership with Project: WILD C.I.C. and Girlguiding UK Abbey Division. It was open to anyone 16 or younger, judged in two age categories: 12-16 and under 12s.

The results were announced at a special prize-giving ceremony at Selby Abbey this weekend.

Entries were invited in three categories: Up Close and Personal, Life in Motion and Wildlife Haven. Each young photographer was able to enter one photo per category.

The overall winner of each age group received a brand-new GoPro Hero camera, worth £200, with category winners and runners up being awarded generous cash prizes.

Emma Daniels, Project Coordinator at Hagge Woods Trust, commented: “It was a great evening to conclude our Heritage Lottery Fund Eco-Explorers project and Snap Wild Photography competition.

“We received over 90 entries to our Snap Wild competition and our judges certainly had a difficult job as we had some fantastic photographs submitted. We hope that our Eco-Explorers project has inspired many young people in becoming engaged and appreciating the beauty and biodiversity that our countryside offers and maybe one day they will become ecologists, entomologists, botanists, wildlife recorders, film makers or wildlife photographers”.

Rosalind Forbes-Adam from the Hagge Woods Trust added: “When you open your eyes and start to look, it’s amazing what you will see and how beautiful and intricate the plants and creatures around you can be. This competition offered a wonderful opportunity for young people to engage with the wildlife around them.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Robert Beaumont .