Stunning worldwide pictures in Shropshire contest

These stunning pictures could have been taken by professional photographers – but they are just some of the snaps taken by amateurs in Shropshire which caught the eye among thousands of entries to a competition.

Members of Wrekin Arts Photographic Club were left astonished when they received 4,500 entries to their Wrekin Salon of Photography competition from 48 countries.

The huge interest was all the more remarkable as it was the first event of its kind the club has run.

• See more pictures in our gallery to your right

But despite the huge competition from across the globe – including entries from as far afield as Western Samoa, China and Vietnam – photography enthusiasts from across Shropshire have impressed judges with their efforts.

Four photographers from Shropshire received honourable mentions for their entries, including Audrey Price, of Much Wenlock who produced a picture of a jackal pup begging in the nature category.

Irene Froy, of Wellington, was commended for her entry Shifting Sands in the open category, as was Charlotte Nadin, of Newport, who submitted a portrait of a labrador.

Club chairman Jon Baker's picture of an alpine storm also received an honourable mention. The winners for each section all came from overseas.

Among the more exotic entries were images of a Bedouin woman with her sheep and Tibetan monks carrying a long roll of red cloth down a mountain.

Mr Baker said: "The competition was the idea of Graeme Webb. He joined last year and he pushed it all through. To start with we were thinking we might have a couple of hundred images but then suddenly we were into the thousands.

"It was quite frightening at times, when you think we had 5,000 images from people all over the world to process."

The competition awards will be presented on Sunday at the Belfrey Arts Centre, Princes Street, Wellington, from 2pm.