Conor swoops to clinch prize with owl image
APHOTOGRAPHER has scooped an award after the public picked his image as an exhibition favourite.
On a bird watching trip to northern Finland in March, Conor Molloy sat waist deep in snow, waiting for a Great Grey Owl to go hunting.
And after two long hours, Conor’s patience was rewarded when the bird eventually took flight, enabling him to capture a remarkable shot of the creature gliding above the snow.
The majestic image has bagged him Macclesfield Camera Club’s President’s Trophy as chosen by the public.
The accolade also comes as he topped his first season as the president of the club too.
Visitors to the club’s two week annual show at Macclesfield Library voted for which picture they thought was the best while viewing the exhibition’s stunning shots, with the most voted for image getting the trophy.
Conor, a retired HR executive who lives in Tytherington, had entered the image into the natural history section of the show’s awards scheme.
Although the judge liked his shot, they awarded the first prize to one of the other photographs on show.
So Conor was delighted with his success in the trophy scheme.
“It was terrific to get such a large public engagement with our exhibition,” he said.
“I saw many people enjoying all the photographs and one voter said they couldn’t choose as they were all so brilliant, which was nice to hear.”
Conor is the club’s president and the club went to great lengths to ensure that the whole process was fair and above board.
It appointed a returning officer, a retired solicitor, to count the votes and to ensure that the count was performed correctly.
Conor was too modest to boast about his achievement, but the club’s vice president, Stephen Coyne, said: “This is a great reward for Conor.
“He is a really talented natural history photographer and totally dedicated to his art. This will not be the last award Conor wins, I am sure.”
Last week Paul Scott, of Newton Street, Macclesfield, was also delighted to walk away with four trophies for his efforts, two of which were awarded for portraits of his granddaughter Mia.
The camera club meets at 8pm on Mondays at Macclesfield Library.
For more information go to macclesfieldcameraclub.org.uk.