AN atmospheric picture of a bus stop on Portland at night has led to a local snapper being crowned the Amateur Photographer of the Year.
Dan Sands, a computer programmer from Portland, won the award in the competition which was run by the Amateur Photographer magazine and saw entries by 12,500 people.
The competition has ten categories for photographs to be submitted to, including wildlife, street, landscape and low light.
The top ten photos for each category lead to points for photographers who took them.
At the end of the year, the photographer with the most overall points is crowned Amateur Photographer of the Year.
Before December, Mr Sands had entered photos for every round, performing well and getting photos in the top ten over several categories, including a fourth-placed finish for his photo of a merry-go-round in Weymouth.
Ahead of the final low-light round, he was tenth placed overall and needed a win in the category to secure the overall title.
To his shock, his low-light photo of a bus stop and solitary passenger near The Heights on Portland won the final category and led to him winning the overall title.
Mr Sands said: "It is pretty huge considering how many people entered.
"I can't quite comprehend it, it is amazing.
"When you enter it is a dream to come anywhere near the top.
"I have entered for quite a few years and I think the secret to success is to enter every round and try and do well across the board.
"Given the wide range of categories, it is quite hard to enter."
As his prize, Mr Sands was gifted a £1,000 voucher for MPB (the photography kit company) as well as a £500 voucher for winning a category.
He said: "I have already spent it.
"I thought it had to be a wind-up so I spent it to make sure they couldn't take it back."
Almost all of his photos in his award-winning portfolio were taken in Weymouth and Portland.
Mr Sands began taking photos from an early age but started taking his hobby more seriously in 2016 after investing in a high-quality camera.
Since then he has been taking photographs and posting to his Facebook photography page for the last seven years.
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