Winner of the Living the View category of LPOTY 2015

​It’s taken me a while to find the time to add this to my site, but I was thrilled to discover the weekend before last that I had won the Living the View category of LPOTY 2015 - Landscape Photographer of the Year - with my snowy image from Wensleydale: Zigzag.

I spoke in my blog of a year ago about my previous lack of success with this particular POTY competition - finally breaking my duck last year with a highly commended for Reservoir Bogs - so, to go two better this time and win a category was a very lovely surprise. As is the case every year, luck does of course play a huge part and I know how many super photographers and photographs fared less well this time. We all have reasons for entering competitions, and some just avoid them at all costs. For me, as a professional photographer, my motivation is simple and, whatever the rights and wrongs, success in one of the international competitions can undoubtedly be of great benefit to your business and certainly boosts awareness about your work. From a personal point of view, my pleasure stems far more from the incredible response from friends and peers, who have been so warm and generous in their response. I really am very grateful for this.

Another first for me this year was to have more than one image shortlisted - sadly Gulls and Ladders (above) didn’t make the cut and plenty of personal favourites didn’t even get beyond the first round - but that of course is the way of these things. I’m really looking forward to seeing all the images in the 2015 exhibition when it opens at Waterloo on November 23rd and to meeting up with photography friends. Lovely to see the likes of Andy Farrer, Colin Bell, Mark Littlejohn, Paul Mitchell, Mike Curry, and too many more to mention, do so well this year. Also good to see Yorkshire well represented, as it is every year!