Let’s face it, 2020 hasn’t been a year that’s put a smile on many people’s faces. But for photographers, that’s about to change with the results of the Mars Petcare Comedy Pet Photography Awards 2020. The international competition aims to raise a smile, and some thanks to the pets that have helped their humans through a difficult year. It’s also a chance to increase awareness of homeless pets in the UK and attract donations for animal welfare charity partner, Blue Cross.
The fun competition, now in its second year and offshoot of the Comedy Wildlife Awards, and created by Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, has plenty of categories taking in all sorts of furry friends, and included images take on camera phones as well as DSLRs and mirrorless models.
The Overall winner, as well as winner of the Dog category was Elke Vogelsang from Germany, with her shot of Noodles, called ‘Guard Dog on Duty’. Noodles is herself a rescue dog, having been abandoned at the end of the hunting season, and Elke took the image on a Fujifilm X-T3 using a 10-24mm f/4 lens and an exposure of 1/640sec at f/8 and ISO 200. In a fitting conclusion to the 2020 Awards, Elke plans to reinvest some of the prize money back into an organisation for pet rescue.
Elsewhere in the competition, picking up top place in the Cat category was Scotland’s Malgorzata Russell with their photo of Basil peeking out from under a fence. Titled ‘Why are you upside down, Mum?’, it was shot on BlackBerry Keyone cameraphone at an equivalent of 25mm, it used an exposure of 1/350sec at f/2 and ISO 100.
The Mighty Horse Category was won by Magdalena Strakova from the Czech Republic, with her great shot of three horses, called ‘Gossip Girls’. This image was shot on a Canon EOS 20D with 70-200mm f/2.8, and an exposure of 1/500sec at f/2.8 and ISO 100.
The All Other Creatures Great & Small category saw Anne Linder of Germany take top spot with her portrait ‘Drama Queen’, featuring her yawning rabbit. Taken using a Canon EOS 7D Mark II and 24-70mm f/2.8, it had an exposure of 1/250sec at f/5 and ISO 250.
Every animal contest needs a Pets Who Look Most Like Their Owners category, and this year’s was taken home by Hannah Seeger from Germany, and her dog, with the image ‘Morning Mood’. Hannah shot this on an Apple iPhone 6,
Finally, the Junior category was taken by Canada’s Ayden Brooks for his shot of sleepy cat called ‘Fox Mulder’. And as well as the main category winners, 10 photographers were recognised as Highly Commended winners for their entries: Candice Sedighan; Kerstin Ordelt; Karen Hoglund; John Carelli; Dimpy Bhalotia; Antonio Peregrino; Iain McConnell and a further entry from Elke Vogelsang of Noodles. Check them out below, and remember to enter next year’s competition in the spring at www.comedypetphoto.com.
