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Huge congratulations Chris on winning the 2020 Awards with 'Woolland Woods'(above). Let's go back in time a little, when did you discover photography?

Photography first entered my life in a meaningful way whilst visiting Japan in 2009. Photographically, Japan offers opportunity around every corner, from the people, culture and wildlife to the beautiful buildings and scenery - a perfect place to cut my photographic teeth and it was there that my passion for photography was initially ignited. However, it was another three years before an upgrade to a DSLR and a move to Yorkshire that landscape photography piqued my interest. The waterfalls of the Yorkshire Dales providing my initial inspiration before heading south and home to Dorset and the draw of shooting winter storms along the rugged Jurassic coastline. In stark contrast to power and rage I’d enjoyed when shooting Dorset’s stormy seas, over the past few years it’s been the tranquillity of Dorset’s woodlands that are motivating me to get out and shoot.

Which camera do you use?

In February of this year I finally, reluctantly, had to replace my trusty and very rusty, Nikon D3200 as it succumbed to sea spray and rogue waves. I am now shooting with a Nikon D7500.

Where’s your favourite place to photograph?

As much as I enjoy Dorset’s woodlands, and especially when their floors are carpeted with spring flowers, my favourite location to photograph has to be Portland Bill, ideally on a stormy winter’s morning. Personally, there is nothing better than experiencing the wild seas of the English Channel crashing into the coastline around the lighthouse……..although those raging seas eventually led to my last camera’s demise. Whilst the lighthouse is the obvious focus, the location offers so much more from big moody vistas to more intimate scenes of waves interacting with the rocky shoreline. Having a world class location like Portland Bill a mere 15-minute drive from home is amazing, though I am still to produce an image from there that I am truly happy with!

What’s your favourite image of yours?

This seems to be ever changing. As each year passes, I learn a little more, find new influencesand further develop my personal style, and with that my love for old favourites wanes a little.However, the Wild Garlic image chosen as this year’s LPOTY winner, and the shot of the gnarled tree surrounded by bluebells are the images I’m most proud of. They were taken on the same morning in what have to be the finest conditions I’ve shot woodlands in, and both were shot from a lower and closer perspective producing very different results than my previous woodland efforts.

Tell us about the day you photographed your winning image Woolland Woods.

I stumbled on this stunning little woodland scene whilst searching high and low for bluebells around the backwaters of Dorset in spring 2018 – the one season that really inspires me to get out and make images. Looking for a scene a little different than the norm, I’d had little luck before uncovering this amazing little pathway, a scene that was smelt well before being seen. The actual image was taken on my third visit in consecutive days, definitely a case of persistence paying off as the conditions were magical; mist and beautifully diffused light spilling through the canopy. I tried numerous compositions and for the first time, shot the flowers, lowdown and close up, giving them greater prominence in the image which I loved with the sea of garlic disappearing off into the distance. It was an extremely memorable morning, and one that will stay with me forever with the winning of this year’s LPOTY competition, a feat that still seems very surreal to me.

Where is next on your list of places to visit to photograph?

For all its amazing locations, Dorset is severely lacking in waterfalls, so I had hoped to shoot the falls of the Brecon Beacons this autumn. Though that is looking more and more likely to happen in 2021 now, so I’ll be hoping to combine autumnal colours and misty mornings in Dorset’s woodlands. Further afield, a return visit to the amazing Yosemite is top of the list.