Paul Wilkinson has beaten off stiff competition from scores of the UK's best portrait specialists to scoop a major national title.

He's done it with his first ever entry into the country's most prestigious professional photo-awards programme.

Mr Wilkinson's highly unusual family picture, in which 'Mum and Dad' aren't even facing the camera, stunned the judging panel at the recent
British Professional Photographers Awards (BPPA) at a Newcastle hotel.

"I had to pinch myself; I was so shocked" said 40-year-old Mr Wilkinson, who runs the Paul Wilkinson Photography Studio in High Street, Haddenham.

"I only joined the Master Photographers Association (MPA), which runs these awards, in the spring – and now the judges have made me The UK Parent and Child Photographer of the Year. It's all a bit surreal – and
unbelievably I also picked up two other awards at the same event."

The winning black-and-white image shows Richard and Shannon Banks with their seven month old baby daughter, Maddy.

Mrs Banks said: "We had asked Paul to shoot some family pictures as we went for a walk by the river. He said he wanted to try something a little different and took this shot as we rested on a park bench.

"Paul really captured the moment with this image – and we are both thrilled that he has won a major award with it.

"He's a terrific photographer and he's just great with kids."

Simon John, chairman of the BPPA judging panel, said: "This is a highly unusual image but we loved the way Paul used space to draw the viewer into the expression on the baby's face."

One of Europe's leading portrait photographers, Edinburgh-based Trevor
Yerbury, added; "It is very rare indeed for a photographer to win a national award with a photograph showing backs of heads. It's a unique and totally compelling image. It speaks volumes, yet is silent and
profound."

Mr Wilkinson plans to enter more awards and stretch out to gain a coveted Fellowship of the MPA.

He said: "My grandad first gave me a camera when I was seven – and I couldn't put it down.

"I have just turned 40 but at heart I am still that seven year old with a burning passion for taking pictures."