Talking turkey with RSPCA Young Photographer Awards winner Jamie Smart

I entered the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards again this year because I loved the competition so much last year. I remember leaving the ceremony at the Tower of London and saying to mum and dad: “I want to win this one day!” And with that I set myself a challenge and goal to try to capture images that would be good enough for me to have a chance.

The idea of photographing our turkey Frederick came to me while I was wandering around my garden with my camera just looking for things to photograph. I spotted him in his pen looking at me through the bars – he was being kept inside because of bird flu. He had a curious look in his eyes so I thought I’d try to get a different image of a turkey while he was standing there looking at me... this is where the photo of him came about and was also the idea for the portfolio of a turkey. I wanted to do something different and unique with the portfolio of the turkey as people overlook turkeys. 

Fred is great, he is quite tame and I enjoy spending time with him, so I thought I’d try to capture the beauty of his feathers by using a macro shot to show-up their iridescence. I also wanted to get a real detailed photo of the caruncles on his face and neck. They were particularly red and puffed up, so I asked dad to help hold a flash up for me in his pen while I tried to get the photo of him square on – it was tricky as he would not stay still! And I had to adjust my f-stop and shutter speed quite a bit to finally get the image I wanted.

I’ve used Nikon from day one because that’s what dad James has. He has used Nikon over many years as he enjoyed photography as a hobby. At the moment I shoot with Nikon Z 9 body and various lenses depending on what I’m looking to capture and where I am. For the photo of Frederick, ‘Not Guilty’, which won the overall prize, I used a Nikon Z 24-120mm lens with a Nikon SB-910 Speedlight… and dad as a flash holder!

For the horse photograph, I used a Sigma 150-600mm lens, and for the caterpillar image I used the Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 macro lens with the Nikon SB-910 Speedlight. I took the ‘Turkey Eye’ picture with dad’s Nikon D500... I didn’t start with a Z 9! As I got better, dad trusted me with his newer camera – the D850. We then sold old kit and saved up to get the mirrorless Z 9, which made a massive difference when taking photos of wildlife as it is so much quieter and faster.

I love nature and wildlife and this is all the inspiration I need to take photos. My mum and dad give me as many opportunities as possible to get out into the wild. We do a lot of research on where to find certain birds and animals and what type of habitat they are likely to live in and when. 

We get up early to go to places to try to find them. We like to travel a lot around Wales and have started going a bit further afield into England. Lots of times I don’t manage to get the photo I want or I miss the bird or animal altogether. But that makes the time that I do get it right that much more amazing. I like to live by Bear Grylls’ motto – ‘never give up’.

I was so chuffed at winning the Pet Portrait category last year that I started taking more photos straight away when we got home! There’s a group of horses on the moorland near where we live in Wales, and we went up there late afternoon on a pretty rough day. As the sun was setting, the clouds parted for just a few minutes and lit up the herd. This beautiful animal looked across at me with this sort of curious look about him… so I decided to call the image ‘Curious George’.

The ‘Head Underwater’ shot of the swan was commended in the Under-12 category. I took this while I was trying to get a photo of the water droplets coming off the beak as the swan lifted its head out of the water. I didn’t manage to get that photo but I did capture this image.

The ‘Staring at the Sun’ image, of the caterpillar, was commended in the Small World category. He dropped out of a cabbage onto the kitchen worktop and crawled his way on to dad’s phone. I loved playing around a bit with different shots while he was crawling around. 

A Year in the Life of a Turkey

About the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards

This year is the 200th anniversary of the RSPCA, so the Young Photographer Awards 2024 is set to be bigger and better than ever. Anyone under 18 can enter, with categories including age categories, the macro of Small World and showcasing Pet Personalities. Entries open in May.   

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