Nature in its springtime glory has been captured in Shepherd Neame’s latest photography competition, which was launched back in January.
The brewer and retailer was inundated with entries, with extra points being awarded for photos which incorporated food in some way, to celebrate the company’s current charity of the year, FareShare.
Top prize went to Mike Hook, a retired bank manager from Maidstone, whose image of a fieldfare feeding off fallen apples(above) at East Malling Research Centre impressed the judges.
A keen wildlife photographer, now in his retirement, Mike captured the image on his Canon 7D. “There was a whole flock of fieldfare there that day at East Malling,” he said. “They were feeding on the leftover apples. If you look closely you can see bits of apple on its beak. They are not a native bird and so we see them in the winter.”
He was presented with a £150 Shepherd Neame gift card prize, along with a winner’s certificate, by senior communications officer Angela Cole.
Four runners-up each received a £25 gift card and certificate. They were: Oliver Mannion, from Canterbury, for his picture of a snail with a smaller snail on its back; Claire Hayhurst, of Romney Marsh, for her German Wirehaired Pointer Boo on Dymchurch beach; Sarah McBride, for an image of a dandelion clock on Wye Downs; and Miriam Simmons, from Hernhill, for a bedraggled sheep in Otford.
