With the simple task of photographing your pet, the last round of our Instagram competition was one of the most popular yet. You entered in your thousands, and we saw a huge variety of different animals from every corner of Europe. However, creating an image that stood out from the crowd was no easy task. The judges were looking for images that were technically perfect, beautifully lit, but more importantly that captured some of the animal’s beauty and personality. Our winning image is all of those things.

Captured by photographer Denys Borysov the seemingly simple shot of the one-eyed kitten has a great story behind it.

With his part in creating the winning image, Tikhon the kitten has now repaid Denys and his wife with love for saving his life. But how did the image come about?

“I was always interested in photographing animals,” he continued, “and the purpose of the photo shoot with my kitten was not to convey ordinary everyday emotions, but a cat in its hunting nature. I set up two flashes and my wife and I took it in turns to play with the cat. The shoot lasted about an hour, several hundred shots were taken, and by the end we were all exhausted. I was worried that after the shoot the cat would be a bit fed up with me, but I was wrong, she still showers us with love.”

Denys then transformed the image into black and white and added a slight sepia tone, explaining, “in my opinion, the monochrome image adds charm and mystery, and it emphasises the character of the cat without being distracted by colour”.

As the winner of the competition, Denys has been awarded a Sony α7 III.

“I was delighted!” he told us, continuing, “it’s still hard for me to believe it, because there were so many incredible entries.”

Denys hopes the camera will help him on the next step of his photographic journey, “I’ve always dreamed of a full frame camera. With the Sony α7 III, I’ll have unlimited creative possibilities. Right now, I want to update a few of my lenses, but long term I’d love to take photos for big companies and brands. I really hope this comes true!”

Make sure you follow @alphauniversebysony.eu on Instagram to keep up to date with the latest competitions and the best images from each competition.

Alex Class took second place with this wonderfully quirky portrait and wins a Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 lens.

And finally, Céline Bissat took third place, winning a Sony RX100 V with this delightful shot of a very happy dog!