Limerick nature snapper wins his club's annual award

A KILDIMO snapper has been named Limerick Camera Club’s photographer of the year.

Sean Reidy took home the group’s annual perpetual cup.

Each month, members of the club, who meet between September and May at Mary Immaculate College in the city, are asked to submit three of their best pictures.

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Independent judges are brought in to judge the photographs and a league system is kept.

Whoever is the highest scorer overall each May wins.

And this year, it was the turn of Sean, who has been taking pictures for more than 30 years.

Asked what it means to win the trophy, which he received from outgoing club president and now secretary Des Crowley, he said: “It’s lovely”.

“It’s nice to achieve something that you set out to do at the start of the year. To realise it nine months later is pretty cool. The standard in the club is actually very high. There are lots of talented photographers. There are some really cool people in the club doing lots of interesting things,” he said.

Talented lensman Sean took photography up in his 30s.

“I started off doing landscape photography as I like to travel. Then I progressed as time went on to do more macro-work, close up work, of plants, flowers and insects. More recently, I've become interested in wildlife, nature photography and bird photography. It keeps evolving,” he said.

For him, photography is “very therapeutic,” he added.

“It’s a slow activity where you get totally engrossed in what you're doing, and don’t experience time passing. You are very much at one with nature,” he said.

Sean takes his dog Prince, an elderly German Shepherd walking each day in Curraghchase Forest Park.

“I started off taking general landscape photos there. More recently, I started taking macro photos. It's incredible, when you start looking, there is a variety of life in the forest. From mushrooms and fungi to insects, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. The bird life is incredible. There are buzzards, and sparrow hawks, all kinds of wild things there. It does bring you more in tune with nature. No question,” he said.

New members are always welcome at the Limerick Camera Club.

For more information, call Brendan Crowe at 087-9900938.