FIRST PLACE
WILDLIFE & UNDER WATER
Compass Jelly
SANDYCOVE, CO. DUBLIN
"This photo was taken in early August 2022. It was beautiful sunny weather and I was in Sandycove at a low enough tide. This compass jellyfish was dancing around in the shallow water beside me and I luckily had a GoPro with me to capture some photos."
PHOTOGRAPHER AOIFE HESTER
SECOND PLACE
WILDLIFE & UNDER WATER
Seals Have Fun Too
BRIDES HEAD, CO. WICKLOW
"I have been photographing the Seals in Wicklow for a number of years now and I wanted to try to get something different for a change. I planned to go out during the mating season of the Seals to see if I could get a playful shot of them and they didn't disappoint me. It ended out to be a bit stormy, so it took some patience and time. But it was well worth the wait."
PHOTOGRAPHER CHRISTOPHER HOWES
THIRD PLACE
WILDLIFE & UNDER WATER
Hare at Curracloe Beach
CURRACLOE BEACH, CO. WEXFORD
"As a regular visitor to Curracloe and The Raven Nature Reserve, I happened to be on the beach at the southern end of the Raven Forest on this particular morning photographing some seabirds. I got a great surprise when I looked around and spotted this Hare was also on the beach enjoying the peace and quiet."
PHOTOGRAPHER DECLAN ROCHE
Basking Sharks
GEORGES HEAD, KILKEE, CO. CLARE
"I am a scuba diver with Kilkee Sub Aqua Club. We went out in search of the basking sharks and couldn’t find them so we just went and enjoyed our dive that day.
On our way back following our dive, others on the water were chatting over the VHF radio about seeing a large group of basking sharks so we went back in search again and this time we found them.
I jumped into the water with just a mask and my camera but had no snorkel and so couldn’t breathe and use the camera very well. I got back into our rib, put back on my scuba gear and descended down to about 6 metres right into the middle of the sharks. I am diving 30+ years and have never seen so many enormous fish. There must have been 25-30 of them just swimming around in circles and not a tooth between them..!
It was a great day!"
PHOTOGRAPHER JOHN COLLINS
Bringing Home the Dinner
SALTEE ISLANDS, CO. WEXFORD
"I have been going to the Saltees for over 13 years and I dreamed of getting a shot of a puffin bringing home the dinner to its young. After failed attempts year after year in June I finally managed to capture the puffin in full flight airborne coming in from the open sea with its haul to feed the young awaiting, with its eyes fixed on my lens before landing into its borrow."
PHOTOGRAPHER CLODAGH BLAKE
Fishermen at Dusk
LOUGH MAHON, ROCHESTOWN-BLACKROCK, CO. CORK
"I've spent many evenings over the past 3 years watching the herons fish along the water's edge in Rochestown, Co.Cork. As the moon rose on a beautifully clear Spring evening in May, I sat and watched this pair work together along the shoreline as the pearlescent hue of dusk set in. The perfect calm of the water allowed their shadows to shine cinematically against the dreamy sky."
PHOTOGRAPHER SARAH RYAN
Curious Blenny
LITTLE SKELLIG, CO. KERRY
"Little Skellig is a fantastic place for wildlife above and below. It was amazing to see the healthy walls, sponges, anemones, and loads of fish and seals. Everywhere you look there are bright colours from orange, yellows, and pinks. What motivated me to take this image was showing the bright colours that you can see diving in Ireland and healthy seas full of life. It was one of those dives that I'll remember for a long time."
PHOTOGRAPHER MAJA STANKOVSKI
Brent Geese Flying over Stormy Tralee Bay
FENIT BEACH, CO. KERRY
"Storm Eunice hit the Kerry coast on the night of 18th of February 2022. Some places were really affected by its devastating power. Kerry has been under Red warning from 3-8 am but, honestly, even after that time till the end of the day we were experiencing strong gusts, rain, hail stones or snow and sleet and the weather was very dramatic. I stayed home for most of the day but decided to take a walk with my camera on Fenit beach late afternoon to take photographs of Fenit Lighthouse from the distance. Around 5 pm the wind picked up again, the sky darkened and started to rain first and then transformed into hailstones. I was starting to pack my camera when I spotted from a distance flock of Geese heading to the North of Fenit Island. I panned them and took a series of pictures but this particular one caught my eye straight as the birds lined nicely in the frame as well, I manage to include Slieve Mish mountains in the background with dark colours of the sky and the Atlantic ocean."
PHOTOGRAPHER KAROL WASZKIEWICZ
Male Leafcutter Bee
RAVEN FOREST, CURRACLOE, CO. WEXFORD
"I found these bee's for the first time during the lockdown and now go out in search of them every year. And luckily I have an area where I can find them each year now. What I love most about them are the eyes."
PHOTOGRAPHER PAT SOMERS
