Staffordshire shot snaps up global award
A picturesque glade in a Staffordshire beauty spot has been put on the global map after a photo of the scene won an international competition.
Keen photographer Graham Colling captured a stunning sunrise at Newlands Wood, between Huntington and Penkridge, last November.
The image was chosen as the winner from 15,000 entries around the world.
The 53-year-old environmental officer from Walsall said today: "I'm absolutely shocked." He was at his desk at South Staffordshire Council in Codsall when the call came through that he had won.
Mr Colling said: "I don't really enter many competitions, and I've never won before." He has won a five-day trip to the island of Svalbard, off the north Norway coast for the chance to capture an image of the midnight sun.
Mr Colling has been taking pictures for 35 years, since buying a camera after landing his first job as an environmental health trainee.
He goes out most days before work, often rising at 5.30am, to capture the sunrise on Cannock Chase or near his Bloxwich home.
Wife Lorna was the first to hear his glad tidings. Mr Colling said they enjoyed a quiet celebration at home in Formby Way taking in the news.
