A MONMOUTHSHIRE photographer has gained international recognition by winning several awards with the Guild of Professional Photographers.

Hannah Merrett, of Clydach near Abergavenny, became a Top 10 Photographer of the Year in the Newborn and Baby genre having had two images in the top 10 in the Guild's Image of the Month competition.

One of the images, which had beaten thousands of entries from across the UK, was of her one-year-old son Josh.

Alongside placing fifth in the Top 10 Photographer of the Year awards, the 32-year-old also had two images in the Top 10 for Image of the Year, and received the highly sought after lifetime membership to the Photographer’s Bar.

This is a unique distinction awarded to those who have had images assessed by the Guild and attained a score showing an "exceptional level of professional skill and consistency".

Mrs Merrett was presented with her awards at the Guild's awards ceremony at Crew Hall in Cheshire earlier this month.

"To finish fifth was a massive shock as I had no idea I was in the running for it," said Mrs Merrett.

"It's been a year of really developing my businesses to focus on newborn baby images and I feel like all my hard work has paid off."

Steve Thirsk, director of the Guild, said that he was "proud and delighted" that Mrs Merrett had achieved such recognition.

He added: "The Guild has very demanding standards when judging photographic competitions.

"The judging is undertaken by a panel of internationally recognised experts from a variety of photographic backgrounds, so Hannah quite rightly should be delighted with their extraordinary achievement”.

For more on Mrs Merrett's work, visit www.hannahmerrettphotography.com