Young RSPCA

Photographer: Jake Kneale
Category:Portfolio - Winner 2019
Title: Peekaboo
Description: When I found this young roe deer I was struck by the beauty of the surrounding ferns and foliage, so I decided to use my 70-200mm lens to show some of the environment. Despite the small size of the deer in the frame I knew the viewer's eye would be immediately drawn to it because it was the only brown shape in the image. Wiltshire, England.

Photographer: Jake Kneale
Category: Portfolio - Winner 2019
Title: A winter frame
Description: When I spotted this roe deer it was lying down framed between the trees, so I waited and was lucky the deer stood up while the sun was still casting a warm golden light. This, combined with the shallow depth of field, gave softness to the texture of the trees in the photo. Wiltshire, England.

Photographer: Jake Kneale
Category:Portfolio - Winner 2019
Title: Buttercup breakfast
Description: Kneeling behind my tripod I was concealed almost completely behind long grasses. This meant the doe was unaware of my presence as she looked up from feeding on grasses and summer flowers in the meadow. Wiltshire, England.

Photographer: Jake Kneale
Category:Portfolio - Winner 2019
Title: Follow me
Description: I took this photo before dawn, which meant a particular challenge was the very faint pre-sunrise light. I knew I wouldn't be able to expose for the deer so instead I slightly overexposed the sky to go for a more graphic style. Wiltshire, England.

Photographer: Jake Kneale
Category: Portfolio - Winner 2019
Title: Mother and fawn sunrise
Description: I took this photo as the sun rose over a local field. I really like the strong orange colour cast created by shooting into the rising sun. That combined with the mist hanging between the rows of trees in the background creating this atmosphere. Wiltshire, England.

Photographer: Freddie Montague-Dennis
Category: Portfolio - Runner-up 2019
Title: I would move if I were you...
Description: This photo was taken on a land safari at Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. This particular fellow made it his mission to block every possible driving path we could take just so we knew who was boss!

Photographer: Freddie Montague-Dennis
Category:Portfolio - Runner-up 2019
Title: I've got my eye on you
Description: This photo was taken on a boat safari on Lake Edward in Uganda. I was definitely keeping my distance, however, not so far that I couldn't get a good shot of this powerful animal.

Photographer: Freddie Montague-Dennis
Category: Portfolio - Runner-up 2019
Title: Face off
Description: This photo was taken on a boat safari on Lake Edward in Uganda. It captures a buffalo and crocodile staring at each other trying to intimidate one another. Let's just say I didn't stick around to see who the winner was!

Photographer: Freddie Montague-Dennis
Category:Portfolio - Runner-up 2019
Title: Snap
Description: This photo was taken on a boat safari on Lake Edward in Uganda. I was definitely keeping my distance, however, not so far that I couldn't get a good shot of this powerful animal.

Photographer: Freddie Montague-Dennis
Category:Portfolio - Runner-up 2019
Title: Dramatic kingfisher
Description: This photo was taken on a boat safari on Lake Edward in Uganda. It captures a crisp close-up shot of a kingfisher resting on a tree branch. I waited for almost an hour for one to finally perch up as they all had so much energy and wouldn't keep still!

Photographer: Jake Kneale
Category: Portfolio - Commended 2019
Title: Dark and light
Description: I wanted to create an unusual silhouette, so I photographed this puffin in front of an area of bright glittering water and then exposed for the bright background rendering the puffin as a silhouette. Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire.

Photographer: Jake Kneale
Category: Portfolio - Commended 2019
Title: Puffin kiss
Description: These two puffins are 'billing', a behaviour that is done to reaffirm pair bonds. As soon as I saw this happening I really wanted to capture the moment and was very lucky that the head angles of both individuals were just right. Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire.

Photographer: Jake Kneale
Category: Portfolio - Commended 2019
Title: Seaview
Description: Some of the puffins I observed on Skomer Island had dug their burrows on a slope that went straight down hundreds of feet to the sea. When this puffin posed among a pile of roots it had dug up it was the perfect chance to show both the unusual digging behaviour and the steep slope on which the birds had made their home. Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire.

Photographer: Jake Kneale
Category: Portfolio - Commended 2019
Title: Coming home
Description: Later in the day the huge east-facing cliffs were in shadow while the flying puffins were still in the sunlight. I used my 70-200mm lens rather than a longer focal length so the puffin was small in the frame to exaggerate the scale of the cliffs and create a more dramatic image. Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire.

Photographer: Jake Kneale
Category: Portfolio - Commended 2019
Title: Beakfull
Description: I was determined to find a plain dark background for a puffin portrait, so when I eventually found one (the shaded area of a rock face) I set up my tripod and waited for a puffin to fly in with a beak full of sand eels. This one soon did, but due to the wind direction it settled down facing away from me and I had to sit for a further 40 minutes before it turned around! Farne Islands, Northumberland.