Icy Highlands shot wins photography accolade

‘Emotionally strong’ image from Glencoe

A striking shot of shards of ice on a bitterly cold morning in Glencoe has scooped the top prize in this year’s Landscape Photographer of the Year Award.

Pete Rowbottom, from Wigan, Lancashire, beat thousands of entries to win the £10,000 top prize in the 12th year of the competition for his “emotionally strong” image of icy water in front of the mountain Buachaille Etive Mor.

He took the winning shot in the Scottish Highlands on a freezing morning in February.

A blizzard on Derbyshire’s High Peak and a dramatic black and white shot of a fisherman on the rocks at Porth Nanven, Cornwall, were among the category winners in the competition.

An aerial view of terraced houses in Bristol and a delicate close-up of holly leaves in Edinburgh also topped their category.

Awards founder and landscape photographer Charlie Waite said: “The numerous strong diagonal lines of the ice fractures in Pete’s image echo the shape of Buachaille Etive Mor in the background and have peaks of their own.

“You can’t take your eyes away from the relationship between the mountain and the ice; it is visually very strong and has a mathematical precision.

“The cold of the mountain and ice together contrast well with the amber of their surroundings.

“This is an image where you can hear and feel the landscape, as well as see it, so it is emotionally strong and involves the viewer on multiple levels.”

Pictures: PA. Clockwise from top: Pete Rowbottom’s image; and other winners Buttermere Bloom, Lake District by Stuart McGlennon; Fisherman, Porth Nanven, Cornwall by Mick Blakey.