A stunning photo of a rare bee captured near Abingdon has won a photography competition.
The extreme close-up of a nomad bee won first prize in the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) 2024 Photography Competition.
The winning shot was taken by Luke Chambers at the trust's Dry Sandford Pit reserve.
Mr Chambers said: "During one of my 4am outings, I was checking some vegetation for any subjects.
"This is one of the challenges with macro, you often have no idea what you'll find, and it's pure luck.
"But there she was, a very rare species of nomad bee, fast asleep.
"With my left hand, I adjusted the position of a nearby scabious flower so it was behind the bee, and held onto the plant she was on to stabilise the scene.
"The image is also a focus stack - I took around 10 frames, all at different points of focus across the bee, then merged them together to achieve the detail you see.
"It wasn't an easy photograph, but it was worth it and is one of my favourite images to date."
As overall winner, Mr Chambers received a high-tech bird feeder camera and, along with all other category winners, a wildlife photography masterclass.
His photo will also appear in BBOWT's 2025 calendar alongside the other winning images.
The contest, launched in April, featured nine categories and challenged nature lovers to take pictures at one of BBOWT's nature reserves or in their community.
New for this year, the vote was thrown open to the public with a People’s Choice Award.
After nearly 2,000 votes were cast across 10 shortlisted images, Peter Hines was crowned the public favourite with his close-up portrait of a robin.
Mr Hines said: "I am absolutely thrilled to receive this award.
"My late sister-in-law, Anne, inspired me to get into photography 12 years ago and I love it.
"Wildlife, sunsets, smoke art, and macro are my passions, so to have this recognition for one of my photographs is wonderful.
"A huge thank you to all who voted for my robin."
Nine-year-old Logan Brown won the children’s category, and with it a bundle of nature books for his school, with his photo of a red admiral butterfly perched on red valerian.
Speaking on behalf of Logan, Frankie Gillespie said: "Logan has recently been diagnosed with a rare genetic eye disease and unfortunately the outcome will be total blindness.
"He has always loved photography and nature, so for him to have become one of the winners is wonderful news and he’s so excited."
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