Daily Mail Weekend Magazine - British Amateur Wildlife Photographer 2014 - Mammals 1st Place and Overall Winner
'Reflection' by Philip Petrou was Overall Winner out of 10,000 entries.
“This is an astonishing photograph, cute and a little bit quirky. The perfection of the mirror image is remarkable. To capture a shy little creature like this in such a perfect pose is extremely clever, needing a huge amount of patience and quite a lot of luck.”
What the other judges said about the overall winner:
“I love the symmetry and the fact that an unnatural feature – the pipe – has taken on such perfect wild growth and become a part of this challenged animal’s world.”
“The reflection enhances the sharp brightness of this superb shot. Water voles are elusive creatures and to capture this moment so beautifully in broad daylight is a real treat.”
“This charming species has become an icon for conservationists and this fabulous image supports that status. It’s the poster this endearing creature has been crying out for!”
“This is one of those magic moments any photographer – wildlife or not – would love to capture. It’s a visual narrative, rich in character and colour and beautifully composed.”
“It leapt out for me with its symmetry, not only in the framing of the vole in the pipe but also in the reflection which gives the impression of the figure eight. There’s no denying it’s cute too.”
“My hands-down absolute favourite across all the entries is this looking-glass study of the water vole . Philip’s got everything right. It’s perfectly exposed, and the lighting is spot on.”