Animal Autumnal: Bearded collies make excellent subjects for photography if you can catch them, owing to their boundless energy, natural inquisitiveness and curious clash of elegant and scruffy, depending on how the mood takes them. In this shot, the dog poses calmly in keeping with the seasonal mood, but the collie’s unique personality often takes over, as will be demonstated in subsequent photographs. Abbey Field: Simplicity leads to a pleasing yet playful shot. The appeal of this image comes from its gentle order. Bounding Beardie in the Bluebells: Millie the dog experiences the joys of Spring. Passion: Common Blue damselflies begin their courting rituals above and around ponds in Hertfordshire. Trapped: A male Southern Hawker dragonfly becomes trapped, lured indoors by the heat of a countryside gallery. The reflection has been reshot and introduced later in order to focus on the original photograph’s subject. Family: A mother tends to her young in bright sunlight. Mad Dash: Collie and beagle charge ecstatically through fields of buttercups. Drenched: A dog makes the most of its summer holiday. Sea Otter: (Oceanarium) These mammals can be difficult to capture as they bob and dip in the water. Their natural playfulness makes a good shot worth the wait. Focus: A wild grey heron keeps eyes trained on the water for its next catch. United: Three horses gallop across a patchwork quilt of fields and hills. Attitude: Birds in captivity often make thought-provokingly saddening subjects but these owls in a Lisbon courtyard retain some of the ferocity of the predator as they stare into the lens. This image is a composite of two carefully-timed shots as the energetic creatures continually surveyed their surroundings. Coots: This young bird stays close to its mother in a forest lake. Romance: Common Blue damselflies begin their courting rituals above and around ponds in Hertfordshire.