Castle Espie through the Lens
Castle Espie Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Centre, WWT, located in Comber, County
Down, has named the four regional winners in the autumn heat of its nationwide
photography competition. From the abstract to the arty; keen photographers in and around County Down were invited to submit entries for four photography categories in the first seasonal heat of its national competition; WWT Photography Competition (2011 -2012), in association with Canon.
- Richie Lort, who works in IT, aged 39 from North Down, was named winner in the Wetland Wildlife category, with his picture entitled ‘Bottoms Up!!’
- Reverend Colin White, aged 67 from The Four Winds, was named winner in the Wetland Landscapes category, with his picture entitled ‘Castle Espie’.
- Paul Warwick, a self-employed IT consultant, aged 60 from Dromara, was named winner in the Wildlife & People category, with his picture entitled ‘Mmm Tasty!’
- And Paul Pruzina, aged 14 from Grosvenor Grammar School, was named Young Photographer, following his picture submission entitled ‘Mushroom’.
The competition was open to visitors at the nine WWT wetland centres around the UK. Debbie McCamphill, manager at the local WWT Castle Espie Wetland Centre, said: “We received over 2,500 submissions across the country, but the quality of the entries from these four fantastic winners caught the judges’ eye and really bought our local WWT wetland centre to life. The competition encourages people to get really close to all the fantastic wildlife we have here at the centre; and these stunning images show off the most elegant and colourful array of birds, insects and other animals seen during the autumn.
The autumn seasonal winners have each won a place on an acclaimed photography course, held by nature photography experts Wild Arena. Each of the winners will also now go through to the national finals to be held in autumn 2012, where £50,000 worth of prizes are up for grabs including wildlife photography and activity holidays. As the winner of the Wetland Wildlife Category, Richie Lort will also be in with the chance to win a three-day bird of prey photography workshop in the Czech Republic if he is voted the national winner. WWT member and regular visitor to Castle Espie, Richie Lort has been a keen photographer for many years. He described his winning image: “I was very lucky to watch shovelers bobbing up and down in the water and I thought the spectacle would make an unusual photograph that would hopefully stand out from the rest. On this occasion capturing the image wasn’t very difficult – I just had to act fast.”
Reverend Colin White is an avid photographer who often visits Castle Espie with a friend, and likes to take his grandchildren for a day out. He explained how he captured his winning image. “I’ve been to the wetland centre so many times, but on the day that I took my photograph I walked out of the door and it was as though I’d seen this particular view for the first time,” Colin said. “The lighting was incredible, so I decided to photograph it. It was very much a spur of the moment shot, rather than a planned shot, but I was very happy with it.”
For Paul Warwick, a trip to Castle Espie is an opportunity to spend time with his family while he also indulges in his hobby of photography. Paul said: “I regularly visit the wetland centre with my wife and two young sons, and at times I can take up to 100 photographs. My winning image was taken at the pond area where you can get up close with the geese. I wanted to take a more natural shot that was quite personal to my family – the geese are a firm favourite with my four year-old son. My wife and son were feeding grain to the geese, and I captured their hands and the goose’s face.”
This season’s Young Photographer winner, Paul Pruzina, lives quite close to Castle Espie and visits around once a month with his family. Paul said: “I was interested in photographing the mushroom as it caught my eye and I liked the way it looked. I took a few shots then placed a mirror underneath it to capture the underside of the mushroom. It’s the first time I’ve ever entered a photography competition – it was actually my older Sister’s idea to enter – and I’m now looking at submitting an image for the winter heat.”
The winter heat of the competition is now open and photographers can enter their
prize pictures taken at WWT centres online at wwt.org.uk/photo until 29th February 2012. Entrants are encouraged to enter more than two of the seasonal heats to automatically go into the Portfolio Photographer of the Year category and to be in with a chance of winning a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Antarctica, courtesy of Exodus in partnership with Quark Expeditions. Debbie McCamphill added: “Our WWT wetland centre isn’t just for budding photographers; it’s for everyone who enjoys nature, wildlife or simply just a great day out.
Castle Espie is situated on the shores of Strangford Lough near Comber, County Down. It is the newest WWT visitor centre and the Trust’s first in Ireland. This time of year there is plenty to see and do, with winter heralding the arrival of hundreds of migrant birds, including virtually the world’s entire population of light-bellied brent geese. “Among the many other attractions at the wetland centre is the Graffan Gallery which runs free exhibitions throughout the year in Ireland’s only environmentally-led space. The current exhibition, which runs to the end of January 2012, features original work from patchworkers, Loose Thread Quilters
