A PHOTOGRAPHER is celebrating after beating thousands to bag a place in the final of a fiercely-contested competition.

Sarah Smith is in the running to win the Guild of Photographers Image of the Year award thanks to her impressive camera work in 2020.

The competition attracted close to 16,000 entries but the Guild of Photographers’ judges have selected just ten images in various genres to go forward to the annual Image of the Year final.

Sarah, from Rayleigh, has been selected as a finalist, with three of her snaps in the running for the top prize.

She is eager to emerge victorious having also reached this stage of the competition in each of the last two years.

Sarah said: “I just can’t believe it. For the third year in a row, I have reached the Image of the Year final but with three images this time.

“It’s an incredible achievement and I could not be more proud.

“Photography is not just a job to me. It’s my passion and my heart and soul goes into every image that I take.”

Echo: Gunning for glory - Sarah SmithGunning for glory - Sarah Smith

Sarah is excited to see whether she will emerge victorious next month.

She added: “Every year I push myself to achieve more and put all my effort in to continue developing my skills.

“The images I see in each month’s competition are inspirational, so knowing just how high those standards are and having my images shortlisted for the overall final from the many submitted across the whole year is really exciting.”

Guild of Photographers director Lesley Thirsk said: “To have an image recognised by the Guild in the monthly competition is difficult enough, so to have an image selected as being one of the best in a category for the end of year final is without doubt an incredible achievement.

“Having three images in the final shows just how talented a photographer Sarah is.”