Photographer shocked to win award for bluebells landscape

A PHOTOGRAPHER from Peppard Common has won a national competition.

Chris Harrison, 33, was shortlisted in two categories at the British Photography Awards for the second year running.

At a black-tie awards gala at the Royal Lancaster in London on Monday last week he won the landscape category for the image Bluebells at Sunrise, which was taken in May.

He was up against 25 other photographers in his category, which was decided by a panel of eight experts.

The image took multiple attempts to capture and shows a field of bluebells taken during a misty morning sunrise with sunbeams gleaming through the forest tops and down on to the flowers.

It was captured in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Beauty in Oxfordshire.

The second image, which was shortlisted in the drone category, captured the Buchaille Etive Mor in the Glencoe Valley in Scotland in December 2023. A light misty fog and hoar frost can be seen coating the cliff face, with orange sunlight hitting its peak.

At the time of taking that image, Mr Harrison and his wife were staying in the Kingshouse Hotel in the valley for a family wedding.

Mr Harrison, who is a
self-taught photographer, said the win came as a complete shock.

He said: “It was really surreal. When they announced it, it was just such a blur. It’s crazy because I’m just out on my own in these woodlands, and to go to this award ceremony with hundreds of people is quite the contrast. It’s certainly been quite hard to focus on my day job this week.

“I definitely didn’t expect to win. I think I knew it was a great photograph, and I know that a lot of people said it was in contention, but you never think you’re actually going be the one to win, but that’s just my character.”

Having looked at the other shortlisted photographs, Mr Harrison knew his competition would be tough. He said: “It was just a real shock having looked through the competition and seeing the other photographers. Knowing some of them from social media, I knew that it would be hard to win. But, when I saw my picture on the screen and my name was called, to be honest, I was in shock.

“I collected the award from the stage in front of hundreds of people and naturally got a bit shy, but there was no requirement to do a speech or anything.

“I never thought it would happen in my life, ever. So, for it to happen at all is just a complete honour. It’s still sinking in, to this day and I’m just trying to soak it all in and appreciate it.”

Mr Harrison encourages other photographers to explore and appreciate the local nature around and on their doorstep.

He said: “I think people, when they look at the photograph, it gives them the feeling that I had when I was there, which as a photographer, all you want to do is communicate that.

“Art in general is so subjective to a person because everyone likes different things. With the landscape category, it’s such a broad spectrum of what you can submit. You can be professional or amateur anywhere in the world.

“You’ve got everything, epic scenes from Norway or huge mountain ranges through to a tiny little woodland in the Chilterns.

“I find it quite interesting that it’s not too far from where we live. It highlights that you don’t necessarily need to travel to these absolutely epic locations to get great photography.”

He has already begun capturing early morning pictures for future competitions, particularly with the change of the season with the autumnal orange, red and yellow leaves coming through.

He said: “I’ve got some that I know I’ll enter coming up, but you never know. I’ve been back out since Monday in the fog trying to get the autumn colours. It never stops.

“The early mornings are hard, but that’s where I like to be because I personally find it so rewarding.”