Abergavenny—based photographer Hannah Merrett has reached the final of the fiercely contested Guild of Photographers Image of the Year Competition.

The Guild is a highly respected UK-based association for photographers, which has members from overseas as well. Each year it runs an on-line monthly photographic competition with awards being given to the best of the entries.

During the course of 2015, the competition attracted nearly 10,000 entries in four categories, and this week the Guild’s judges have selected just ten images in the various genres from the very best of the monthly entries, to go forward to the annual final. Hannah has not one but two images in the final!

Guild Director Lesley Thirsk said, “One of the Guild’s aims is to drive standards and creativity amongst photographers. Our monthly competition certainly does that, for the standard of the entries we see each month is quite staggering. To have an image recognised by the Guild in the monthly competition is difficult enough, so to have one image, let alone two, selected as being in the best ten in a category for the end of year final is a quite remarkable achievement, and shows just how talented a photographer Hannah is.”

Hannah said, “Photography is my passion and I work tirelessly developing my skills so that I can provide the best possible images for the families I work with.

“One way I do that is to enter the Guild’s competition. It drives forward photography standards month after month so it helps me push myself. The images I see getting awards each month are inspirational, so knowing just how high those standards are, to have two of my images selected amongst only ten to go through to the final from the whole year’s entries is really, really exciting.”

Hannah’s images, along with the others, will now be printed ready for the competition final later in January, and the overall winner will be announced on February 6.