Photographer takes first and second place

COUNTY Durham photographer Jason Allison has been crowned ‘Pet Photographer of the Year’ after his pictures of pooches took first AND second place.

Jason, who is from Crook, had a successful night at the annual Guild of (Professional) Photographers’ Image of the Year competition after being awarded overall winner and runner-up in the ‘Pet’ category – plus he was runner-up in the Open Category and third overall in the Photographer of the Year awards.

Jason’s portrait of Rab, a one-yearold cockapoo, impressed the judges and was awarded first place in the ‘Pet’ category, while his photo of half-sister dachshunds Martha and Maggie won the runners-up award.

He was presented with his awards at the final at Crewe Hall in Cheshire recently. Jason said: “Words cannot describe how I feel, it’s awesome. Setting up my own photography business and studio has always been a dream of mine, and to achieve the success I have within the space of a year and a half is unbelievable.

“I just love doing what I do. Every day is different and I enjoy working with my clients and their humans, and it takes a lot of patience and experience to get the shot I want that captures the image and true character of the pet.”

Rab’s owner Trish Willis, from Howden-le-wear in County Durham, said: “I smile every time I see the portrait. From beginning to end I felt confident in Jason’s skill to produce an outstanding image of my pup. This is award is well deserved.”

In fact Jason has won 29 Guild awards this year including seven Gold awards. The Guild is a highly respected Uk-based association for photographers, which also includes members from overseas. Each year, it runs an online monthly photographic competition, judged by internationally respected judges with awards given to the best entries.

During 2018, the competition attracted 12,000 entries from some of the most talented photographers in the country.