Winners of South Downs youth photo competition are announced

Winners of South Downs youth photo competition are announced

February 9, 2022

A delightful photograph of a girl running in the great outdoors is the winner of this year’s youth photo competition.

Lila Chesters, of Upper Swanmore, Hampshire, captured this glorious action image of her sister while a storm was brewing over the South Downs.

“Running Free” won the 11 to 17 category in this year’s contest, which had the theme “Nature Makes Me Happy”.

Lila, who attends Portsmouth High School, said: “I was very surprised when I won the competition but very happy because it gave me the confidence to do more photography.

“To me, the South Downs is where I have grown up, gone to school and I have lots of fond memories of early morning walks. The photo happened when I was walking the dog after school and a storm had been forecast. We managed to get back to the house dry with some pictures of the amazing sky. I was also lucky enough to live here during the lockdowns allowing me the time to experience the beauty of the South Downs.”

Lila and her family have won a trip to Go Ape for a Forest Segway experience.

Enzo Tizzard, of Tangmere, West Sussex, won the 10 and under category with his image “Mr Nature Himself”, a lovely image showing two stags at Petworth Park.

Enzo and his family have won a trip to Marwell Zoo.

Enzo, who attends Arundel C of E Primary School, said: “I love learning about nature and going places with my family where I get to see and take photos of cool animals and things. There are so many places we love going in the South Downs.

“This photo was taken at Petworth Park at their rutting time of year. That’s really awesome to watch. They are really noisy too!”