An Oxfordshire photographer has shared his favourite image taken in 2021.

Simon Booker, an amateur wildlife photographer from South Stoke, took more than 15,000 images in 2021.

During the course of the year he has shared a number of his images with the Oxford Mail, including a rare photograph of a stoat attacking a rabbit and a festive fox in the snow.

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Oxford Mail: Simon Booker has shared his best picture of the yearSimon Booker has shared his best picture of the year

Mr Booker’s favourite image, however, is a photograph he took of two hares on an summer’s morning stood in near perfect symmetry.

The image called ‘Two of a Perfect Pair’ is currently showing in limited edition at Reeds Gallery in Goring On Thames.

Mr Booker, said: “It is the combination of all the things I have worked on for four years. Patience, quality, preparation and fieldcraft. Visually pin sharp the composition of two hares suddenly giving me this ‘copy and paste’ position in golden dawn sunlight was a gift and a truly stunning moment.

“The second hare is slightly out of focus, and I think it gives it a ‘me and my spirit’ feel. With a lovely washed out green backdrop to complement their orange fur it makes me proud to see it and I love the back-story of how it was ‘created’.

“It is the culmination of so much effort and work it still makes me buzz every time I look at it!”

Mr Booker, 58, vice president of sales and marketing for a global software company, explained that to get the photograph he had to utilise skills built up during the last four years as a photographer.

These included planning, fieldcraft, composition, technical expertise, patience, execution and creation.

Oxford Mail: Simon Booker zoomed in on one of the hare's eyes to reveal the sharp detail of the image. Picture: Simon BookerSimon Booker zoomed in on one of the hare's eyes to reveal the sharp detail of the image. Picture: Simon Booker

In terms of his goals for the new year, Mr Booker said he is “getting better but still has far to go”.

He said: “There are so many amazing photographers out there who consistently produce amazing work. All I want to do is keep getting in the right place at the right time near to nature's finest creations and doing my best.

“I want to take pictures in the wild where the animals is running free and behaving as nature intended."

With practice, and “a little slice of luck”, Mr Booker hopes to snap perfect images of boxing hares, an Oxfordshire otter, a kingfisher in flight, a sparrowhawk, foxes, a short eared owl, a badger and a tawny owl.

More of Mr Booker’s photographs can be viewed and purchased on his website stokerpix.com.

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