Snap of inquisitive sheep wins the contest.

An 11-year-old from Kearsley in Greater Manchester has won the RSPCA’s People’s Choice award following an online vote.

Winner Ellie-Grace Braidwood was up against 13 other photographers from the Mobile Phone and Devices, Pet Personalities and Pet Portraits categories of the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards. All participants were aged 18 years old or younger.

Members of the public were given a week to vote for their favourite, with a total of 4,565 votes cast.

Ellie-Grace’s winning snap of a sheep peering through a fence, which she titled ‘Ewe looking at me?’, was taken when she was walking with her parents on a local farm.

Ellie-Grace said: “I was feeding the fish and the ducks whilst out for a walk and this sheep kept on coming up to the fence and I thought he was really cute.

“I feel a mixture of shock, pride and excitement at winning. I still can’t believe people voted me to be the winner! I am thinking I might start saving up for a camera of my own and continue taking photos. I never thought I would win, but if you don’t have confidence and go for it and enter, you never will.”

RSPCA photographer and awards judge Andrew Forsyth said: “The best thing about the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards is that we're always seeing something new, and the People’s Choice award category is a great way of making the competition virtually accessible to everyone.

“Our young photographers are always bringing fresh ideas and trying different things; the creativity and talent is outstanding - and it's a real joy to look through the entries every year.

“It was a tough choice this year for our online voters, there were some truly beautiful photos on the shortlist. Ellie-Grace’s image showed bags of character, originality and really captured the personality of the sheep. It’s a wonderful photo and we hope to see more from this budding photographer in the future.

“We hope Ellie-Grace’s success will encourage lots more young people to enter this year’s RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2023, which launches in May.”

Entries for the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2023 open on 4 May 2023.

Image (C) RSPCA and Ellie-Grace Braidwood