Landscape Photographer of the Year Collection

A celebration of Britain’s greatest landscapes captured in a beautiful book.

The Landscape Photographer of the Year competition is the brainchild of the UK’s renowned photographer, Charlie Waite, who set up the competition to find the best landscape photography of the UK, and each year’s winning entries are published in a stunning book. The current winners appear in Landscape Photographer of the Year Collection 03, from AA Publishing, £25. You can also see images at an exhibition each year (last time at the National Theatre at London’s South Bank, in the Lyttelton Foyer, December/January.)

Emmanuel Coupe's Sunrise over the Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Emmanuel Coupe’s Sunrise over the Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Top prize this year went to Emmanuel Coupe, for his photo The Old Man or Storr, Isle of Skye, Scotland, a dramatic, almost other-worldly view of this famous feature in Scotland. Emmanuel Coupe recalls, “I reached the Old Man while it was still dark, hoping there might be some interesting light later on, but I surely did not expect the light show that ensued. Shortly after sunrise, and while the sun was still at a low angle, rays started to pierce through the clouds, spreading all across the Sound of Raasay, completing this classical Skye view in the most dramatic way.”

Roger Clegg's Sycamore Gap, Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland, England
Roger Clegg’s Sycamore Gap, Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland, England

BRITAIN readers will recognise the imagery of Roger Clegg, whose photo, Sycamore Gap, Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland, shows walkers in this distinctive feature of Hadrian’s Wall and the southern end of the Northumberland National Park. “This picture is a combination of planning and luck,” admits Roger. “Hadrian’s Wall at this point runs ENE to WSW presenting a short period around midsummer when a good sunset picture is possible. The first year I tried to get the picture, poor weather prevented it. The second year on a midsummer night, the weather was perfect. At dusk, fragmented cloud stretched across the sky gloriously illuminated by the setting sun. The walkers were the ‘luck’, completing the picture.”

Tim Morland's The South Downs near Clayton, West Sussex, England
Tim Morland’s The South Downs near Clayton, West Sussex, England

Britain’s newest national park, The South Downs, is the star of Tim Morland’s photo showing sheep near Clayton in West Sussex. “This was taken looking south from a spot near the Jack and Jill windmills,” says Tim. “It was the end of a cold January afternoon and there was a window of only a few minutes before the light disappeared.”

This hardback coffee-table book includes 170 of the very best images from this third annual competition, with four categories: Classic View, Living the View, Your View, and Phone View. From salt marshes, chalk cliffs and ancient woodland to historic villages, parklands and cityscapes, there’ll be something to bring back memories of your travels around the country, or images to inspire you to tread in the photographers’ footsteps with your own camera.