'˜ZOO-M' in as Belfast Zoo announces annual photographic competition winners!

The winners of Belfast Zoo's annual photographic competition have now been announced.
Zoo-m photographic competitionZoo-m photographic competition
Zoo-m photographic competition

The competition, which has been running for 35 years, is sponsored by HB and Jessops. It challenges budding and amateur photographers to creatively photograph the animals and scenes of the zoo; capturing the wonder of nature while exhibiting photographic excellence, high quality skills and a great eye for a ‘zooper’ photo!

Zoo manager and competition judge, Alyn Cairns, said “The competition has been running for 35 years and every year we continue to be amazed. In recent years we have moved to a digital platform for the competition and we had record entries this year, with more than 750 submissions. I would like to thank everyone who entered the 2018 competition. The entries were outstanding and celebrated the diversity of the species that we care for from the smallest insects to the largest mammals. I would also like to thank our sponsors for their continued support.”

Susan Allardyce from Jessops, said “Jessops were delighted to support the competition this year. It was a pleasure to assist with the judging and to see so many fantastic images from all age groups. We were pleased to offer a range of canvas prints to first, second and third prize winners for each category. It’s great that more than 750 people were inspired to engage with the competition and photograph some wonderful images!”

Category A - best picture taken by a club photographer

· 1st prize and overall winner – Joe Beattie (red panda)

· 2nd prize – Vittorio Silvestri (Rothschild’s giraffe)

· 3rd prize – Pamela Wilson (red-backed bearded saki)

· highly commended – Joe Beattie (Sumatran tiger)

· highly commended – Geraldine Ennis (crowned lemur)

Category B - best picture taken by a zoo visitor

· 1st prize – Sarah O’Caithan (Western lowland gorilla)

· 2nd prize – Edward Clarke (Sumatran tiger)

· 3rd prize – Marina Kulakova (Malayan sun bear)

· highly commended – Kerri Shanks (California sea lion)

· highly commended – Linda Thompson (Scheepmaker’s crowned pigeon)

Category C - best black and white picture

· 1st prize - Linda Thompson (Rodrigues fruit bat)

· 2nd prize - Bruce Marshall (Western lowland gorilla)

· 3rd prize – Gareth O’Caithan (Rothschild’s giraffe)

· highly commended – Pamela Wilson (Francois langur)

· highly commended – Philip Blair (Barbary lion)

Category D - best funny caption

· 1st prize – Bruce Marshall (Western lowland gorilla)

“Watch I can do keepie uppies as well”

· highly commended – Anthony Walker (Rothschild’s giraffe)

“Undefeated hide and seek champion, Belfast Zoo 2018”

· highly commended – Tim Liggat (Rothschild’s giraffe and ostrich)

“You told me you could fly!”

Category E - best picture taken by someone under 16

· 1st prize – Jack Sweeney (Sumatran tiger)

· highly commended – Amy Jamison (Rodrigues fruit bat)

· highly commended – Ethan Corrigan (Cuban tree boa)

Category F- best picture of a zoo gardens or landscapes

· 1st prize – Bruce Marshall (sea lion and penguin walk)

· 2nd prize – Gareth O’Caithan (Floral Hall)

· 3rd prize - Gareth O’Caithan (meerkat and scenery)

· Highly commended – Tim Turner (Francois langur and Belfast

views)

You can see all of the winning photographs from Belfast Zoo’s annual photographic competition 2018 at www.belfastzoo.co.uk/photocomp and don’t forget to enter the 2019 competition!