Winners of nature photography competition announced

Entries to a photographic competition show the beauty and power of the weather, from a Russian blizzard to an English misty bluebell wood.

Talisker Bay storm, Isle of Skye, by Antony Zacharias.

The winners and runners up in the International Society of Nature and Wildlife Photographers’ Weather Watch photo competition have been announced.

The overall winner from hundreds of entries was a foggy sunrise in Flecknoe, Warwickshire, captured by 52-year-old snapper Hamish Scott-Brown.

Mr Scott-Brown said: “I know there are the diehard landscape photographers who’ll camp up all night in a one man tent and get the ultimate shot - but I’m not one of them.

“I’d seen the weather was going to be a foggy day on that December morning.

“I simply drove out to the fields and sat waiting for the sun to pop over the trees while sipping on a flask of hot coffee in the comfort of the car.

“It was just one of those days where I got lucky and caught that rare moment.”

One of the organisers Phil Jones said: “For this competition we asked to see all kinds of images that depict any type of weather, be it thunderous storms, blizzards or beautiful sunshine.

“Hamish’s image captured the theme wonderfully with the beautiful sense of feeling from the image as the sun is rising through the fog.”

Runner-up was 41-year-old former solicitor Antony Zacharias with his picture of the Penmon Lighthouse in Anglesey, north Wales.

He said: “I was enjoying the serenity of being alone and the peace of the isolated area - the only sounds being the lapping waves, odd gull and the regular clang of the lighthouse bell. As the sun was setting behind a cloudy sky, I noticed that some of the clouds were forming beautiful patterns as a storm was rolling past on the horizon.”

Anthony also had a highly commended shot, a moody black and white storm brewing in Talisker Bay on the Isle of Skye.

He said: “I saw tremendous storm clouds gather around the end of the peninsula and on the horizon.

“Instincts said I should retreat from the torrential rain but then suddenly the sun broke through the dense clouds and I just couldn’t leave, transfixed. I converted this to black and white to clear away the ‘distraction’ of colour for this image.

“I think it emphasises the shapes and textures of the different forms of nature.”