Wem photographers capture stained glass beauty - with pictures
Some of the country's most detailed and colourful stained glass windows have been captured on camera by Wem photographers.
Members of Wem Civic Society were tasked with photographing stained glass for this year's photo competition.
Stained glass is notoriously difficult to photograph because of the way the light reflects, but members were up to the challenge.
The competition was judged by professional photographer Dave Granger and civic society member David Smith.
The pair said despite stained glass being so tricky to photograph, they were impressed by the standard.
It was won by Becky Haywood, of Newtown, who captured the stained glass at Strawberry Hill House, London, in all its glory.
The judges described the winning entry as 'well framed' and 'well exposed', and were particularly taken with the clarity of the reflection of the window on the floor.
Suzannah Beaman, of Shrewsbury, was runner-up with her photograph of the glass at St Mary's, Welshpool.
Chairman of Wem Civic Society, Shelagh Richardson, said the competition was inspired by a display on the history of stained glass in Wem Library.
She said: "As a group we had a tutored guide of three churches and their stained glass windows which ended at Shrewsbury Abbey.
"After that we had the idea that we should revive the annual photography competition and thought stained glass would be a great subject.
"It's a very difficult subject because it has a lot of detail and you have to get the right balance between the colours. It can often be even more difficult because churches are generally quite dark, although in some cases it did work in favour of the photographer."
Ten members took part in the competition, 37 different images were entered and many received commendations from the judges.
Shelagh added: "Many members thought they couldn't take part because they are not very good photographers, but those who did take part really surprised themselves.
"Before this we didn't run a photography competition for four years, but this has inspired is to start again. We're already thinking ahead to next year's which I think will be an autumn harvest competition, and I hope more people will take part."
Some of the pictures of the stained glass will go on display at Wem Library at the end of the week.
