A schoolgirl who spends hours crawling through fields to get the perfect snaps has won an award from Chris Packham.
Elise Thomas, from Driffield in East Riding of Yorkshire, was crowned RSPCA Young Photographer of the Year 2021 in the 12-15 age category.
Her sensational snap, titled "Golden Glow", featured a roe deer in the golden light of early morning and beat off competition from more than 6,500 entries.
The awards were judged by TV presenter, campaigner and conservationist Chris Packham, who certainly knows a thing or two about wildlife.
Elise, who is now 16, only took up photography in March 2020 as a way to occupy her time during the first lockdown.
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With her new-found passion for photography, Elise began capturing incredible shots of animals around her village and now wants to have a career in photography.
"My passion for wildlife photography came about when the first lockdown in 2020 happened," she told The Mirror.
"Because I live on a farm there’s lots of nice places to go on walks. I was out one day and I saw a strange behaviour from some local hares.
"I stood and watched for about 45 minutes, once I got home I immediately started to google what behaviour I had been seeing."
The student's first photo was in the middle of 'boxing season' for hares, which required a lot of patience and dedication.
"I set myself a challenge to photograph this boxing behaviour," she explains. "At the time I only had my bridge camera for three days.
"After 4 hours of crawling through the fields I managed to get the shot I wanted. That’s when I realised how much I enjoyed it, the thrill of getting the photo you have worked hard for."
Elise, who lives with her mum, stepdad and two brothers, says the best snap she has taken to date is the deer in the distance that was back-lit by the golden light.
She is now hoping to expand her hobby and move into different areas of photography while pursuing a career.
Her next step is to move into the world of motorsport photography and she has a trip to the British Grand Prix planned for this year.
But the eager youngster is still keen to stick to her roots and shoot some more incredible wildlife snaps.
She added: "It’s coming up to boxing season again and I can’t wait to set myself more photography challenges."
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