By Chris Cornford
A Niton photographer was taken by surprise when she found out she had won the People’s Choice vote for her category in the virtual British Photography Awards.
Sienna Anderson submitted a photograph of the Merano glass Mermaid Gin bottle in a fish tank which was chosen for the Commercial Product category, one of just 20 selected photographs.
She said: “The winners of the judges’ awards are notified in advance, so I knew I hadn’t won that award in my category. I was watching the ceremony online and they kept scrolling through the photos for the People’s Choice Award. But my photo wasn’t coming up – then it suddenly flashed up as winner at the end; I was totally taken by surprise.
“My first thought was to tell my dad, but as I can’t get a mobile phone signal at home, I had to rush outside and go down the road to phone him and let him know I’d won!
“It’s an amazing honour. Just knowing thousands of people worldwide voted for my image is truly special. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me.”
Sienna’s photo is supporting marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage and she explained how it came about. She said: “Mermaid asked me if I would do a photo shoot for them and said they wanted a watery theme.
“So I got the fish tank and filled it with water. Then I got a diver’s oxygen bottle and attached a rubber pipe from it into the tank. I placed the pipe so that bubbles would flow from it and I was able to control the flow by turning the oxygen valve up and down.
“It worked out really well and I still can’t believe my photo came out top when there were so many fantastic images by top photographers in that category.”
Isle of Wight Observer