A CAPTIVATING image of a mountain hare taken by a North Yorkshire man has won a highly prestigious photography award.

Wildlife and landscape photographer Paul Fowlie, who lives in Hackforth near Bedale, has been awarded a Royal Photographic Society gold medal for his wildlife image, On Guard, which he took during heavy snowfall in February this year.

The photographer waited until snow was forecast in the UK before travelling to Findhorn Valley in Aviemore, Scotland, a known habitat for the animals. The hares develop a snowy white coat in winter, to blend into their surrounding habitat in mountainous terrain.

The trip to Scotland from Bedale proved challenging, as snowfall closed many of the roads on the route. When Paul arrived at his destination he then had to make his way carefully through deep snow, before arriving in an area where the animals lived.

Finding the camouflaged animals also took some work, but after finding a burrow with his binoculars he then managed to catch some shots of one of the nervous animals, silhouetted against the blue sky.

Straight away he knew he had captured a good image of the mountain hare and Paul has now learnt his image has been awarded a Royal Photographic Society (RPS) gold medal.

“The snow was knee-deep,” he said.

“We used walking poles to get there and made sure we pushed the poles down deep into the snow because there could be a deep gully you couldn’t see.

“It makes it all the better that this was the shot that won the competition because there were difficulties from leaving home to getting the shot. It was worth it in the end.”

Paul began to pursue photography seven years ago, after developing his love of photographing the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. He then also began taking wildlife images after investing in the precise lenses and other equipment needed.

He has produced images of the Black Grouse Lek, a courtship ritual where the male assembles at dawn and performs an energetic display of flutter-jumping and posturing to attract a female, as well as otters at the Isle of Mull in Scotland and stags in Scotland.

“You have to have some patience for wildlife photograph, it’s not for everybody," he said.

"It can get boring sitting for hours with nothing happening. One picture I took of three kestrels involved sitting in the Highlands for eight and a half hours. I was half an hour from going home and then they came down and settled in front of me.”

An exhibition of Paul Fowlie’s work is due to take place at the Yorkshire Dales National Park centre in Bainbridge, where it will be on show from Monday, September 3 for two months.

On October 8 he will be running a residential photography workshop focusing on the Red Stag rut in Scotland.

For more information about Paul Fowlie, visit his website; paulfowliephotography.com