AN ACCOMPLISHED Swindon photographer has been given a prestigious award by the Guild of Photographers in recognition of his outstanding work throughout the year.

Clive Hall, 54, from Blunsdon St Andrew, went into the awards season with high hopes after a number of his photos were entered for consideration by two industry bodies.

However he was blown away when he was selected to be made a member of the Photographer’s Bar at the Guild of Photographers annual awards ceremony in Crewe last week.

Reacting to the news, Clive said: “It was a complete surprise, I am one of only 90 photographers in the UK to have been given this recognition.

“It’s not something you win but something you earn, I really am very honoured to receive it.”

The certificate Clive received reads: “a unique distinction awarded to those photographers who have successfully had images assessed by the Guild over the course of a year evidencing an exceptional level of professional skill and consistency.”

In addition to membership of the bar, two of Clive’s images were awarded in the Image of the Year competition at the same ceremony in their own right.

His photo of a five metre rolling wave at Boa Vista placed in the top ten images for the landscape category and another of his images received the runner’s up prize in the floral category.

Clive’s success didn’t stop there; at the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographer’s Awards in London he was recognised for four out of five of the photos he submitted.

“It is one of the biggest conventions in the photography world, around 14,000 people.

“They have a competition specifically for prints rather than digital photos which is a complete and utter minefield in its own right.

“Five out of my four photos were given merits, the other one missed out by just two points.”

Despite his success, Clive says awards are not his main motivation as a photographer.

He said: “The real reward for me is seeing the faces of my clients when I show them the photos, you are trying to capture a moment and an emotion and when you get that right it’s great.”

After being a keen amateur photographer for a number of years, it was only when Clive left the Fire Service four years ago that he decided it was what he wanted to do as a career.

He has worked as a general photographer and a wedding photographer but says it was only relatively recently he found the area he really wanted to focus on.

He added: “I did a lot of general photography but there was just something missing, I can’t quite explain it.

“It was only when I started to shoot sports people that it all just clicked.

“I call them ‘sportraits’ - a photograph has to tell a story and with sports people they’re so focused on their training, their look, their condition, they’re so driven that it can make for great pictures.”