This striking picture of a misty morning on the north Norfolk coast has won Wells photographer Janice Alamanou a regional award.

It was taken at Morston, is called Low Tide Morning and won her a gold award at the British Institute of Photography South-East Region Awards.

They accolades were presented at a ceremony in London; Mrs Alamanou was also awarded a Merit for her photograph, Blue Calm, which was taken at Hunstanton.

As a child growing up in Wells, Mrs Alamanou loved taking pictures of her brother and her pet dog on a small 35mm camera. That passion has slowly developed into a full-time career as a photographer, and this is the first award she has won.

Mrs Alamanou, 46, who runs the company, Coastal Photography, said winning the award was the biggest achievement of her career so far.

She added: 'Being awarded gold by the BIPP, incorporating top professional photographers of the industry, is an achievement I am very pleased about. I think this could help me career-wise, and personally it also means a lot to me to have top people in the industry praising my work.'

She added: 'I specialise in landscape and seascape photographs, and whenever the weather is a bit unusual I'm on the lookout for a good photograph.

'Growing up in Wells, the north Norfolk coast has become my playground, and there are many great places to take pictures.

'With Low Tide Morning, the weather was very misty, so I went to this spot in Morston to see what I could get.

'It took a lot of time to find the right angle and location to take the photograph. I'm really proud of it.

'It looks nice but I didn't want it to be too pretty. I wanted to get in the mudflats and for the picture to be a true reflection of the area.'

Mrs Alamanou is self-taught and has been a full-time professional photographer for five years, having enjoyed the art purely as a hobby before.

She said: 'I started to take it more seriously a few years ago when I attended an event on Wells Quayside and decided to try and sell a few of my photographs. They sold out, and it was so incredibly satisfying to make that first sale and to have people who don't know me complimenting me on my work. I then started to get better equipment and work semi-professionally alongside my other job and I went full-time about five years ago.'

She added: 'I do not see photography as a job: it is my passion, and I'm so lucky to make a living out of doing what I love doing.'