Rotary young photographer competition

In December 2020, students from local schools entered the Rotary Young Photographer competition. This is a national competition organised in three stages: local club, district and national. 

Once again St Katherine's students were very successful in the competition, despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 restrictions. Students were often working from home rather than in school and the competition had to be organised digitally, rather than via printed photographs as has been the case in the past.

This year's theme was "Wild Nature". Winning entries for the local Portishead Rotary club stage were selected by Jane Rees ARPS, an experienced nature photographer. Entrants had to submit three photographs each accompanied by a statement on how they interpreted the theme. 

The St Katherine's students were entered into the senior division and are all in Year 11, studying Photography for GCSE. Well done to all those who entered, we're very proud of you - especially Ms Weatherson!

Senior winner was Katie Thomas. Katie described her first image "this links to wild nature because the bird is wild and is a moving target. I chose this image because I think it's a good perspective of the bird." Her choice of image 2 "links to wild nature because you have a natural background to the image as well as the bird. I chose this photo because I think the sun has a successful impact on the final image." Her final image "links to wild nature because I captured the wild bird's movement successfully. I chose this photo because of its difference to most of my bird images."

Jane Rees explained "I placed this first for a number of reasons. It completely fulfilled the brief. Birds in flight are one of the most challenging of all photographic subjects and I commend Katie for undertaking it so successfully. She managed to get three birds in three different positions, and all were competently taken." 

Second place: Nathan Webster with his three sunset photographs; image1, image2, image3.

Third place: T J Peppard with black and white photos of brooding tree dotted skylines; image1, image2, image3.

Highly commended: Ruby Stephens with her blended portrait and tree images; image1, image2, image3.

Commended: Evie Dexter with her vibrant wild flowers shots; image1, image2, image3.