Being stuck at home, the majority of us have been unable to get out and do the things that we took for granted before. As a result, many of us have been getting creative at home or on our daily exercise routines. Last week, we asked you to send us your best lockdown photos as part of our photography competition! We were overwhelmed by both the number, and quality of wonderful photos that we received and are excited to share the winning photos with you below.
Thank you so much to everyone for their contributions. It really lifted the team’s spirits seeing so many images of hope, beauty and solidarity at a time like this. We hope that you also enjoy seeing the wonderful photos that your fellow Rest Less members came up with!
Overall Best Photograph
Winner: "Penarth Pier water like a millpond at high tide"
By Susan Lyons
Location: Cardiff
Best Floral Photograph
First place - "Stunning bluebell at sunset"
By Dave Fuller
Location: Kimberley, Nottingham
Second place - "Electric spring hues"
By Moira Auchterlonie
Location: Braintree, Essex
Third place - "The colourful and positive power of nature"
By Nigel Monaghan
Location: Hertford, Hertfordshire
“In these dark days, my afternoon walk and the colourful and positive power of nature has been a hugely important part of my day.”
Best Creative Photograph
Winner: "Home lockdown working"
By Michael Hewitt
Location: Great Billington, Bedfordshire
“I’m still working full time at home as a Building Services Consultant – mainly doing design work, writing reports, video conference calls, endless e-mails and even carrying out inspections etc via video link. I am also a keen amateur photographer and this picture is a little bit of fun I had one day.”
Best Sunrise or Sunset Photograph
First place - "Self-isolating on our boat"
By Nic Fairclough
Location: Plymouth, Devon
“We self-isolate on our boat in Plymouth, Devon. This photo is of a beautiful view I took one evening taking our exercise around the Marina area, looking towards the fishing boats.”
Second place - "Sunrise"
By Theresa Collins
Location: London
“I am still working and was working nights last week. I photographed this beautiful sunrise from the hotel. Truly beautiful start to the day.”
Best Wildlife Photograph
First place - "Family of ducks"
By Jane Darling
Location: Aynho Wharf near Banbury
“These photos were taken during lockdown at Aynho Wharf. There is a lovely family of ducklings living close by to where we are moored.”
Second place - "A Bee Fly"
By Robert Bacon
Location: High Barnet, London
“The Bee Fly (Bombylius major) – looks dangerous but is actually harmless (to humans). This is a Bee Fly and just to clear things up right from the start, it’s a fly not a bee. Looking like a bee affords this fly some additional protection by making it appear more dangerous than it actually is!”
Best Celebratory Photograph
First place - "VE Day party at my Dad's care home
By Gaby Staddon
Location: Hitchin, North Hertfordshire
“This photo was sent to me by my Dad’s care home, which is very close to my home in Hitchin. It is such a sweet photo of him. The home held a VE day party with the residents in the garden.”
Second place - "VE Day on our estate at Gatcombe"
By Lynne Sutton
Location: Isle of Wight
Third place - "Thank you NHS"
By George Christian
Location: London
Best Photograph of The Great Outdoors
First place - "Time to play - Dandelion O'Clock"
By Joanna Smith
Location: Nottingham
Second place - "The Awakening"
By Chaima Griffith
Location: Warwick, Warwickshire
“A rediscovery of Self in the elements of nature in a time of isolation.”
Third place - "Shell on Conway Beach"
By Steve Potten
Location: North Wales
Best Food Photograph
Winner: "Teatime Treat"
By Deb Bartram
Location: Harlow, Essex
“This photo was taken the last time I went to my favourite coffee shop just before we went into lockdown. It was an orange polenta cake and was delicious!”
Photograph that made us smile the most
First place - "Best friends, Barney and Reuben
By Wanda Gent
“This picture shows how close my two dogs are. One is blind – his name is Barney, he’s 10 years old and has diabetes. The other is two years old and his name is Reuben.”
Second place - "Losing the plot with a smile"
By Sarah Lewis
Location: Braintree, Essex
“Someone asked me to represent something I have done lots of during lockdown. I’ve made copious amounts of Banana Bread. My neighbours even started to ask me to make some for them – something that has never happened before. So, the banana represents the happiness that making and eating banana bread has brought me during this period.”
Britain is going bonkers for banana bread during the lockdown! If you’re getting peckish you can read our Banana bread recipe, here.
Third place - "Lockdown exercise"
By Jay Stewart
Location: Northamptonshire
Rediscovering an old passion
We also received an entry from a Rest Less member whose photos were less about her photography talent, but more about a skill that she has picked up again during the lockdown! For this reason, we wanted to give her a special mention and show off her amazing work.
"Painting after years of neglecting it"
By Monica Archer
Other Notable Entries
Thank you so much to everyone who took part in our lockdown photography competition!
We received so many great entries that it’s been really hard choosing the winners – to showcase some of the other great work, here is a selection of other notable entries that we received…
Copyright is owned by the individual contributors. Photos should not be republished without prior written permission from the individual photographer.
A final thought...
Looking through all the wonderful pictures gave us a wonderful, but unexpected sense of connection to one another. We hope that you found something similar.
If you have been inspired by the photos above, then you could consider developing your own photography skills with a short distance learning course from home. You can browse thousands of courses online.
If you have any additional creative talents that you’ve learnt or become reacquainted with during the lockdown, then we’d love to hear from you! Do leave a comment below – and keep your eyes peeled in our newsletter for our next competition!
