We were blown away by the exceptional level of talent showcased by Rest Less members in our lockdown photography and poetry competitions – so this time around we asked you to send us in your best animal, pet or wildlife shots.
We received our highest number of competition entries yet, which made the judging even harder! While we could only choose a handful of winners, we’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who took part. From cute pets to stunning wildlife shots, hopefully you’ll enjoy the winning photos below just as much as we did. And as always, keep your eyes peeled for our next competition!
Overall best animal photograph
Winner - “Newfypoo on Littlehampton beach”
By Elaine Mackenzie & Richard Mole
Location: West Sussex
“Bruno thinking about the next thing. Not the sharpest tool in the box, but we love him & he loves swimming and finding another doggy or humans to play ball with.”
Best domestic cat photograph
Winner: “Spice”
By Mike Gleeson
“Spice has survived many traumas, including a broken leg from a car accident and calcification of his spine causing loss of use of his back legs. He’s better now, but the broken tooth is testament to his trials and tribulations.”
Best small pet photograph
Winner: “Dragon”
By Kyeesha Bryson
Location: Location: Blackawton, Devon
Best dog photograph
Winner: “Magic”
By Rita Mitchell
Location: Worcestershire
“This is Magic, she is a nine year old ex-racing Greyhound and we adopted her four years ago. This photo was taken at Snowshill Lavender Farm, Snowshill, Worcestershire.”
Best African wildlife photograph
Winner: “Struggle for survival”
By Leon Vermaak
Location: Windsor
“I live in Windsor, but the photograph was taken in Shambala Game Reserve in South Africa. My family and I were repatriated to the UK on 4 June 2020 from South Africa. While we are truly happy and relieved to be here, we will always cherish the memory of the South African bush and struggle for survival that rhinos face.”
Best equestrian photograph
Winner: “New Forest ponies”
By Normal Wareing
Location: New Forest
“I had a walk through a small herd of New Forest Ponies. The ponies looked very healthy and took no notice of me walking amongst them.”
Photograph with the most creative animal pose
Winner: “Archie”
By Paul Gough
Location: Lancashire
“This is Archie my English Springer at Nicky Nook, Garstang, Lancashire. I think he thought he was a Pointer on this day.”
Best “caught at the perfect moment” photograph
Winner: “Thirsty squirrel”
By Jan Budgen
“Caught this little squirrel having a drink at a local nature reserve this week!”
Best garden wildlife photograph
Winner: “Spider on the warpath”
By Howard Lewis
Location: France
“This picture was taken in my garden at home in France. I was lying in the grass and suddenly this brute appeared. I like the picture because it’s slightly out of focus and it takes a few seconds to see what it is. But once you do, there’s no mistake that he’s on the warpath.”
Best bird photograph
Winner: “Peacock”
By Karen Baxter
Location: Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
“A peacock taken at South Lakes Safari Zoo.”
Best underwater wildlife photograph
Winner: “A beautiful Anemone with its resident Anemone fish”
By Bob Latif
Location: London
“A beautiful purple/blue Anemone semi-closed with its resident Anemone Fish. This species is known as the Pink Skunk Clownfish (Amphiprion Perideraion). Shot in the Maldives.”
Best big cat photograph
Winner: “A lioness posing for the camera”
By Jane Davies
“A lioness posing for the camera (a simple Canon point and shoot) in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, in October 2019.”
Best livestock photograph
Winner: “Lockdown sheep”
By Kyeesha Bryson
Location: Blackawton, Devon
“This photo was taken during a family walk. During lockdown, spending time in nature and with animals has helped to boost my happiness – plus they are good company. Seeing nature carrying on as usual is a comfort when the rest of the world is in upheaval.”
Best pet portrait photograph
Winner: “Sophia”
By Karen Baxter
Location: Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
“This is Sophia, our family dog, who is a rescue dog from Crete, and arrived at the beginning of March. A few days after she arrived, she bolted whilst out on a walk, and was on the run for two days. It was the kindness of strangers and the power of social media which got her back safely to us.”
Other notable entries
There were so many wonderful entries to this animal photograph competition that we thought it would be a shame not to share a few more with you. So here are some other notable entries.
Copyright is owned by the individual contributors. Photos should not be republished without prior written permission from the individual photographer.
A final thought…
For us, looking at these images reminded us how lucky we are to share our planet with so many amazing animals! This includes both pets, who offer us love, companionship and loyalty, and wildlife who keep our ecosystems in balance.
If, like us, you’ve been inspired by the photos above, then you could consider developing some of your own photography skills at home. We have a wide range of short, distance learning photography courses on site, which you can find here.
If you have any additional creative talents that you’ve recently learnt or developed, then we’d love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or leave a comment below – and keep your eyes peeled for our next competition!