I’m Anwen, a 17 year old wildlife photographer based in Wales, UK. I’ve always had a fascination for our natural world and hope to capture it’s beauty and fragility in my photos. I started photography when I was 14 years old, and since then I have never looked back, and hope to continue to showcase nature’s wonders through my work.

My journey with photography 

It all started with my first camera, the Canon EOS 2000D paired with the Canon EF 75-300mm. It wasn’t much, but I was over the moon with my new setup that allowed me to finally capture images of wildlife. I instantly started to explore our local area in search of any animals I could find. Everyday after school, I’d spend hours scouring the treetops in the hope of finding a tawny owl, or examining possible fox or badger dens. But for the first few months, garden birds were my best friends. Being able to experiment with camera settings and new compositions really helped me to quickly develop a better understanding of wildlife photography. Even now, around 3 years later, I’m far from an expert, but am continuing to learn new skills and techniques every day. 

My first big milestone for me was winning the S4C HENO Photography Competition, which is run by a welsh tv channel to encourage people of all ages to get out and to take photos. Taken 4 months after purchasing my first camera, my photograph of a European shag won the under 16s category, and I was completely blown away with the reaction my photo got. I was honoured to have my interview aired on the channel a while later, where I was able to tell the story behind getting the photo, and what wildlife photography means to me. It was at this moment that I realised that maybe a future in wildlife photography wasn’t completely impossible, and I was motivated to keep going and to continue improving.

My image of a European shag, photographed in the summer of 2023

Canon EOS 2000D, Canon EF 75-300mm