PHOTOGRAPHERS from Droitwich, Dormston and Studley are among those who have had pictures selected for the Worcetershire Wildlife Trust’s (WWT) 2024 calendar.
The conservation charity challenges snappers across to submit their images for the annual fund-raising creation with the best 12 selected – one for each of the months.
More than 400 pictures were submitted by almost 100 photographers.
All trust staff were involved in the initial judging process and, once submissions were whittled down, external volunteer judges, professional wildlife photographer Pete Walkden (Pete Walkden Photography) and semi-professional wildlife photographer Jason Curtis (Wyre Wildlife), helped choose the 12 winners.
Each winning photograph features as an A4 image in the calendar with 24 runner-up pictures selected to appear as smaller inserts.
Long-tailed tit. Picture by Chris Farman. sWhat the snappers had to say….
John Kirk, from Studley, had his image of a common frog in Cookhill chosen, Robin Couchman’s blue damselflies photo, taken at Spetchley, was also selected, as was the long-tailed tit picture snapped by Chris Farman, from Domston.
John noticed frogs coming to the surface of their small raised pond and croaking loudly so set up his tripod.
He said: “It took a lot of patience to wait for one to resurface close to my set-up.
“It looked so cute that I titled the photo ‘waiting for the kiss’.”
Robin had gone to Spetchley Gardens specifically to photograph dragonflies and noticed two pairs on a beautiful arched leaf.
“To get two pairs on the same leaf was a real bonus.”
And Chris said: “I like pictures in snow but it is so infrequent these days.
“I’d like to tell a story about enduring freezing winds to get the picture but it was actually taken through the window of my home office.”
Damselflies by Robin Couchman. s
Overall winner
This year’s overall winner was Mark Everett from Pershore, whose striking image of a kingfisher perched by the River Avon won the public vote on the WWT’s social media channels – it will feature on the front cover of the calendar.
Competition organiser Wendy Carter congratulated the winners and runners-up and thanked everyone who entered.
“We received an unprecedented number of submissions that have been a joy to look through.
She added another beautiful calendar has been produced which would not have been possible without the support from external judges Pete and Jason.
And she said: “Even in bustling towns and cities, there are pockets of nature to be found.
“So when you’re out and about, it’s always worth having a camera to hand – from the wonderous to the whimsical, you never know what you might discover.”
Visit worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/shop to buy the calendar which is £8 – all proceeds directly benefit the trust’s work to protect Worcestershire’s wildlife and to create habitats on its nature reserves.
Photographers can go to flickr.com/groups/worcestershirewildlifetrust to stay up-to-date with the WWT’s activities.
Alternatively, visit facebook.com/worcestershirewildlifetrust and twitter.com/WorcsWT – the trust’s social media pages.
