A TALENTED photographer from Dorchester has been praised for a picture-perfect wildlife shot.

Dorchester Camera Club member, Lisa Bukalders, received a highly-coveted medal in her first attempt at the prestigious London Salon competition, as well as three other prints being accepted for exhibition.

Mrs Bukalders was delighted to hear that her entry, a photograph of a family of ostriches, named ‘Ostrich Family Outing’, had gained recognition and was handed the prestigious prize.

She said: “The prints from my failed Association of the Royal Photographic Society were sitting in a box and I thought ‘why not have a go?’ I know you can’t please all the people all of the time, but it’s a nice feeling when you can please someone.”

The photograph, which has been called fine-art, creative and photo-art, has won Lisa other competitions too.

Mrs Bukalders excelled at this year's Dorchester Camera Club competition, winning first place in both open print and creative and placed images in nature and mono.

She then entered the Western Counties Photographic Federation exhibition, where the photo received the Best in Show Award, as well as taking home gold in the Southampton International Salon.

Mrs Bukalders began photography 12 years ago, after travelling off-road in South Africa with husband David and wanting to be more than a ‘holiday snapper’.

The holiday gave her lots of photos to work with, but Mrs Bukalders said she likes to keep it simple when it comes to editing.

“I am embarrassingly limited in my technical knowledge,” she said. “To be honest, more often it’s happy accident of having the wrong camera setting which produces interest in the image. I tend to focus on the result rather than the process and technique.”

Mrs Bukalders takes part in the monthly distinctions group at the Dorchester Camera Club where she gets constructive critiques and practical technical advice to improve her photographs.

To see more of Lisa’s images, go to lisabukalders.com and to find out more about the club, go to dorchestercameraclub.com.

By Jess Stoddard