RSPCA YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHER AWARDS 2010

RSPCA

RSPCA YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHER AWARDS 2010

A national photography competition for under 19s.

The judges

Your picture needs to stop our judges in their tracks - here’s who you need to impress. 

Matt Baker

Matt used to be a presenter on Blue Peter but is currently presenting the BBC's countryfile series and the One Show. Matt was born in Durham where he grew up in the Dales on his family's sheep farm. His love of the countryside and animals made him the natural choice for fronting such shows as One Man and His Dog, Summer Countryfile Diaries, Animal Rescue Live and Animal Rescue Squad for Five. Matt was really impressed with the entries to YPA09 and can't wait to get judging this year's entries!

Danny Green

Is a professional photographer based in Leicestershire and specialises in photographing the native species found in the UK. In 2009 he won the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 'nature in black and white' category with his stunning photograph of a starling wave. In 2007 he was the overall winner in the International Wild bird Photographer of the Year competition. He has also been successful in the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition winning the Category Urban and Garden Wildlife in 2007 and in 2005 was highly commended in the Animal Portrait category. This is his second year as a YPA judge and is looking forward to the challenge. To see some of Danny's photos visit his website www.dannygreenphotography.com

David Hosking FRPS 

Trained in photography at Plymouth College of Art and Design between 1973 and 1976. He is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and has sat on the Associateship and Fellowship Assessment Nature Panel. His reputation as a master photographer has been enhanced by the publication of his work in a vast range of magazines and books, including over twenty which were the product of his happy and prolific partnership with his late father Eric Hosking OBE, Hon FRPS. David and his wife Jean are deeply involved in the administration and development of the Frank Lane Picture Agency (FLPA Ltd), one of the oldest picture libraries specialising in natural history, founded by Jean's late father Frank, in the early 1930's.  David travels widely and enjoys all wildlife photography, but especially birds. When not travelling, he is working on a new book on South Africa wildlife which will be published by HarperCollins in 2011.

Andrew Forsyth

RSPCA chief photographer Andrew spends his spare time photographing wildlife and was highly commended in the 'Urban and garden wildlife' category of the 2009 Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. He has also been highly commended in the Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year 2008 for his amazing pictures of temple monkeys in India. He receives hundreds of pictures from photographers every week and knows a great picture when he sees one. You can see some of his pictures on his website www.thewildlifephotographer.co.uk. Andrew has a lurcher called 'Merlin' who he re-homed from the RSPCA.

Gemma Padley

Is a features writer at Amateur Photographer magazine. A keen photographer herself, Gemma has been with the magazine for two and a half years. AP was launched in 1884 and is the oldest consumer weekly photography magazine in the world. The bible for amateur and professional photographers for over 125 years, AP is always first for photography news, camera and equipment reviews and much more. For more information visit www.amateurphotographer.co.uk

Jean Hosking

Jean Hosking is the Managing Director of the specialist Nature agency FLPA - images of nature. The company was founded by her father Frank W Lane over 50 years ago. The agency is owned and managed by Jean and her husband David Hosking.Jean joined FLPA when she was 24 years old, before that she trained as riding instructor and worked in sales, marketing, recruitment and personnel. Jean owns two dressage horses, three dogs and two chickens, which keep her busy when she's not working in the agency. Her company FLPA represents over 250 superb photographers from around the world and has a collection of over 300,000 stunning images instantly available at high res via it's website. www.flpa.co.uk

Mark Thackara

Mark is the general marketing manager at Olympus. Mark has helped with the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards for a number of years and is looking forward to seeing the entries for YPA 2010!

Philip Warner

Philip is managing director of magazine printing company Warners Midland plc , who have been sponsoring the awards for a number of years.

Henry Macaulay

Every picture tells a story and Henry, who is head of press and media at the RSPCA, will be looking for the story behind yours.He has an ex-battery hen called Gillian and a cat called Margo who he rehomed from the RSPCA.

Amanda Smith

Is the editor of the RSPCA's animallife magazine. Amanda believes that imagery can convey important messages and is a very emotionally evocative form of media. Amanda has two cats that she re-homed from the RSPCA called Dusty and Mischa.

Louise Stevens

Louise is head of publications and brand at the RSPCA and has a special interest in the Pet personalities category as she is the proud owner of three huge personalities - cats Olive, Chewy and Max all three were re-homed from the RSPCA.

Sarah Evans

Sarah is editor of the best junior animal magazine around – ! She has two cats – Poppy and Coco – and a dog called Dougal and is looking for a photo that will make a real impact as a poster in animal action.