Congratulations to our winners, enjoy the overall winning images below and click through to see the full gallery of monthly winners here.
It was incredible to see all your wonderful photos and we feel very privileged to have been able to share them with all our readers.Each month selecting just one winner seemed to become ever more difficult so picking just one winner from all the entries was a huge undertaking, after narrowing it down to a shortlist of seven we ended up voting for first and second places using a CJS devised system of proportional representation! Ultimately, there were only two votes between first and second place.
Red stag by Val Gall.
When we awarded Val first place back in October for the Wildlife Theme we said: The red stag is a beautifully balanced, perfectly composed and in focus image. Every hair is visible, the texture of the antlers and the spikiness of the gorse, even the water running down the lifted stepping foreleg which together with the disrupted reflection in the water below all come together to create a sense of movement in what is a quite serene image.
Val was "over the moon to have second place" and says: “I was watching a dipper feeding on the edge of water when I heard splashing to my right. A beautiful red deer stag was walking through water heading straight towards me. A very precious moment”.
Lakeland Summer by John Jones
CJS said this is such an atmospheric image and captures a "typical"
Lakeland summers day very well! The photo is beautifully balanced with
the walker and collie on either side of the standing stone, both braced
against the wind and the distant fells a moody purple.
Bank Vole by Adrian Dangerfield
CJS said: Another great photo, once again in perfect focus from the little paws to every hair and whisker, the russet brown of the vole's fur is somehow made more intense by the bright fallen flowers which also illustrate just how small a creature it is. Adrian says: "the picture wasn’t taken with anything fancy, just my 5 year old Samsung Galaxy Smartphone. I enjoy getting out for walks with my camera but always have my phone with me as a standby. I read somewhere that the best equipment for a photographer is what they have at the time and this was certainly the case."
By a significant margin the clear winner is the lovely daytime pipistrelle by Kim Bliss.
Kim says she's: "happy to share this of a pipistrelle bat I found resting at Tilgate Park, woodland in Crawley, West Sussex. It was a rare find that made my day, especially when he had flown at dusk safely! (I hope!)"
The comments show how much this most unusual sight appeals:
Amazing picture and never seen a bat in the daylight.
The photographer must be very observant to have captured this shot. How wonderful to find a pipistrelle slumbering & looking so comfortable.
Beautiful photograph of a rarely seen bat, In daylight too, very impressive, what a great photographer
CJS want to thank all the wonderful organisations who supported our competition by providing prizes.