We are delighted to announce that the first prize winner of our Photography Competition 2019, sponsored by Fujifilm UK, is Simon Wantling. Simon has won £1500 worth of photographic equipment from Fujifilm UK for his beautiful image of two great crested grebes taken at Felmersham Gravel Pits in Bedfordshire. This is the second year in a row that Simon has won the competition. Simon said "I really didn't expect to win for a second year, especially when you look at the quality of images that were entered into last year's competition. I feel very honoured and it makes all the time spent in the field travelling the UK so worth it."

About the winning image, he added, "I'm probably best known for my owl photography, which makes up a large part of my portfolio (one of which was the winner last year), but it was very nice to photograph something different. The romance and how the birds heads and necks almost formed a heart shape in this image made it a little special. I feel very privileged to have witnessed and captured in photos or video some amazing wildlife encounters here and abroad, including this one. I hope everyone has the opportunity to witness a wildlife encounter like this one that sticks in your mind." You can see more of Simon's work on his website and over on YouTube.

Second prize goes to the atmospheric image of an alderfly (Megaloptera) in the morning sunlight, taken by Claire Haskins at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire. And the third prize winner is Eglė Vičiuvienė for her 'Predator vs Prey' image of a sawfly larva and a parasitic wasp on opposite sides of a leaf, taken in Bedfordshire. Claire and Eglė both win a share of £300 worth of optical equipment from Opticron.

The judges, who included Terry Hall from Fujifilm UK, Chris Galvin from Opticron and past winner Sarah Kelman, were impressed by the range of over 200 photographs entered into this year's competition, which had a theme of 'Contrast in nature'.

The top three images will be joined by a further 21 winning photos to create our 2020 wildlife calendar. The other winning photographers are Nigel Bell, Karen Brammer, Finbar Carroll, Lester Cooper, Trudie Davidson, Rebecca Fulcher, Daniel Hauck, Matthew Hazleton, David Jackson, Ann Miles, Trevor Sawyer, Mark Tyrell and Dovydas Vicius. Congratulations to all of them.

All the prizes will be awarded at a ceremony in August, where the photos will also be on display. The calendar will be on sale later this year in our online shop and at our Visitor Centre in the Nene Wetlands.

We are very grateful for the support of our sponsors Fujifilm UK and partners Opticron.

The 2020 Photography Competition will be open soon.