If you’re age 17 or under, this is the competition for you. You can enter pictures of any wild animals, plants or landscapes. Pictures of captive animals (animals that do not live a free and wild existence) are not eligible. We accept colour and black and white digital images or scans or transparencies.
The judges will be looking for original, beautiful or striking shots rather than rare or exotic subjects. Creatures or places close to home that you know well or have easy access to may be your best subjects. The way you frame and crop your subject is as important as getting the focus right, and the level and type of light is a vital ingredient.
Many photographers under the age of 17 have been producing such incredible pictures in recent years that they’re giving the adults a run for their money – so much so it’s impossible to look at a winning image and guess the age of the person who took it.
Don’t worry if you haven’t been anywhere exotic for your holidays. We’re not looking for young people who’ve been lucky enough to travel to faraway places – but for those who can produce good pictures. A great photographer is someone who can take an uncommonly good image of a common subject. So have a go at shooting wildlife on your doorstep – sparrows, starlings, frogs or squirrels, for example. But make sure you use your imagination, rather than copying other people, to produce something really different.
And don’t be put off by the high standard of the winners. With practice and perseverance you can do it. Here are a few top tips to get you started:
- Keep it simple, the simpler the image, and the less distracting the background, the greater its impact.
- Get down low, become part of nature by getting down to the animal’s eye level, or even lower, for more intimate pictures.
- Hold steady, use a tripod or find some other way of making sure your images are pin sharp.
- Wait for the best light, try to take pictures in beautiful light at the beginning or end of the day, for example, or just before or after a storm.
- Work on a project, don’t just shoot everything in sight, choose an interesting subject and take as many different pictures of it as you can.