Serene Staffordshire snap reaches contest top 10

Just 12 months after winning a top photography competition, beating off 15,000 hopefuls, Graham Colling has won through to the final 10 in this year's contest.

His stunning image of Perton Ridge, near Pattingham, at dawn has been shortlisted in the international Velux Lovers of Light competition.

The 54-year-old environmental officer from Walsall is thrilled to make the final in two successive years.

Last year a stunning shot he took of Newlands Wood on Cannock Chase won the contest. Mr Colling has been taking pictures for 35 years, since buying a camera after landing his first job as an environmental health trainee.

His creative hobby serves as a total contrast to his working day, which is spent at his desk at South Staffordshire District Council in Codsall.

He goes out most days before work, often rising at 5.30am, to capture the sunrise either on Cannock Chase or near his Bloxwich home.

He said: "My passion is for landscapes, which means being outside," he said.

"I'm deskbound behind a computer for 95 per cent of the day, so I find photography completely different and very relaxing."

Mr Colling lives with his wife Lorna and rescue cat Fleur in Formby Way, Bloxwich. The Velux Lovers of Light competition, now in its third year, has received an unprecedented 21,295 entries since launching in October.

Each photograph in the final 10 captures a moment of daylight. The shortlist was selected by a panel of five judges in London last week.

They stand to win a trip for two, worth £10,000, to Finland, land of the midnight sun. The winner will be announced in the next few weeks.

Head judge Joe Tree said: "The job of selecting this year's shortlist was practically impossible.

"The standard of photography is unbelievably high, and the creativity that has gone into interpreting the brief is of the highest order."

Send us your pictures of lovely landmarks into Star Witness via the link below for your chance to win £100.